STORIES

“I changed my activities/actions online in Social Media after the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting incident. The Las Vegas Shooting is the worst mass shooting incident in the US. I read through the reactions of people on Twitter. It was a truly depressing read. There were hoards of people mourning, most were lamenting about yet another mass shooting incident in the US but no prospect of real change or tightening in gun laws from the US government, and a large group of people who oppose any change to firearm laws in the US. I felt drained and upset with the happenings. There was negativity and a general sense of hopelessness all around. We can change by contributing positivity to society and try not to make things worse. I decided to share or comment on Twitter only on what’s positive, something that gives hope and belief to people. I consciously did not want to fuel the Social Media fire by getting into any argument on social media. … I felt as if I was not able to do any good, at least I should not try to do anything bad. So I will send out positive and good vibes via my Social media Twitter account. One of the few things I did was to retweet a gun ownership law in Japan. This showed how gun laws should be in the US. It shows it is possible. Japan has done it. Share inspirational stories on Twitter. Something that gives people hope, and instils belief that any challenge can be overcome… I also feel real constructive, result-oriented, dialogue on complex issues are best had face to face… I feel very happy with this change and I hope to continue doing it.” – Female, 43, VIC - Maci