As Ferguson protests spread, Twitter takes on a different tenor
Off-topic tweets drew the ire of those upset over the grand jury’s decision not to indict the police officer who killed Michael Brown.
Most of the time, social media users can rely on Twitter for a few things: jokes, tweets from brands, and updates from celebrities.
Every once in a while, however, Twitter becomes something else, and anything but serious discussion of the topic of the moment is retweeted and criticized for being out of touch and too flippant.
That was the case Monday night, as emotions ran high after St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced that Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Well before McCullough’s remarks were over—news outlets reported that Wilson would not be indicted several minutes before the prosecutor announced the decision—protests began in Ferguson and throughout the country. Twitter lit up with photos of those demonstrations, along with commentary about the decision.
“#Ferguson,” “Darren Wilson,” and “grand jury” were the top trending topics Monday night, and remained so Tuesday morning. For proof that the tone of Twitter changed, the comedy news website The Interrobang gathered a collection of markedly serious tweets from comedians about the decision.
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