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When national or global events happen, the quickest way to find out about it on social media. Things start trending and suddenly everyone knows about it. This could be something tragic like the recent event in Paris or something more positive like the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. When events like this happen, social media further spreads the word by allowing people to place banners over their profile photos in order to show their support for these events.

This isn't exclusive to Facebook, but can be found on Twitter as well. It’s difficult to tell whether or not people actually care about something they see on the news or if it’s just another thing that starts trending. In 2001, would everyone have changed their Facebook profiles to mourn those lost in 9/11?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with showing your support for those around the world who were devastated by this recent tragedy, but there is no need to act like it’s some grand gesture. 

If it’s purely to show support and awareness, then that’s fantastic. However, there are always tragedies that befall people all over the world — both the scale of Paris or even smaller — that could use attention. How do you show your support when there’s no banner for those? Within the same day, there were attacks on other parts of the world, yet we only choose to recognize the ones that Facebook makes into a banner. I am praying for Paris, but it doesn't have to be on my Facebook profile. 

Reach the columnist at ybrewste@asu.edu or follow @jbrewzki on Twitter.

Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.

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