Social Media Case Reflection

 Wow! What refreshing viral story to read and research about! With all the depressing and sad news we too often find on the Internet; it was wonderful to read something so light-hearted and positive! It is obvious and apparent to me how fast a story can spread via the Internet and social media. Among the other 17 million viewers, Shaquille O’Neil watched Officer Bobbie play ball with some neighborhood “rowdy” boys. Shaq liked what Officer Bobbie did so much, he wanted in on the next game. It is crazy that a little Florida police force’s Facebook page can get so much publicity that someone as famous as Shaquille O’Neil would see it. News travels fast, and often it is sad stories of shootings, diseases and natural disasters. You can imagine how great it was to read something so upbeat and uplifting. Way to go Officer Bobbie and Shaq, you lightened up my week with your actions and this story!

I really like the fact that the Gainesville Police made the decision to post this dash cam video, not knowing how others would respond. They were passionate about the event though and their stance of "We're going to let kids be kids. We are going to focus on the ones that commit crimes.  "#HoopsNotCrime" I love that they shared goodness through social media and used it as a way to share their beliefs in a very beneficial way. Social Media can be such a great tool to share positive and uplifting messages; you never know how far the message can go and the eyes that will see it.

How great for these boys to meet someone that I assume is a great idol of theirs, additionally for them to have such a positive experience with the law enforcement. This event is quite timely, considering how often I see #blacklivesmatter or #whitelivesmattertoo come across my news feed. I feel like more and more segregation between ethnicity is broadcasted on the Internet, and it is beautiful within this story to see friendship and equality among races.

As I was looking through comments and feedback from viewers, it was overwhelmingly supportive, which I think is great to see! Of course, there was the occasionally negative comment here or there, but generally people were supportive.  It is interesting to me how involved outside parties can get so drawn into events that do not particularly have anything to do with us. I found myself feeling involved even though I had nothing to do with the event. Openness on the Internet has a way of making us feel involved when we really aren’t.

This has got to be great for the Gainsville Police PR and publicity. I think more often than not, law enforcement gets more publicity for negative actions than for positive ones so I assume it was refreshing for the community as a whole to focus on something so happy. This has undoubtedly has given Shaq’s public relation great feedback from the general audience! It is wonderful to see someone so big and famous out and about connecting with regular people and encouraging them to do good and to follow their dreams! It was a little reminder for many readers, myself included that rich or poor, famous or not, people are people and people like to play basketball!

What about the neighbor? To me the complaint was silly; obviously others agreed as well. But apparently the person who complained was passionate about it or else they wouldn’t have complained. I wonder what the neighbor first thought when they saw this video go viral; I assume they felt pretty silly. I wonder if they were offended by the way the cop took their complaint and did the opposite of what I assume they wanted. He supported their loud ball playing and even joined in. One article I read said, “Saturday’s pickup game, surrounded by dozens of awestruck residents and police officers, had to be louder than the shenanigans that sparked this whole thing in the first place. But we’re guessing that cranky neighbor, presumably viewing the display from somewhere, didn’t issue any complaints this time.” Nobody likes to feel like a fool, especially to 17 million viewers. I wonder if the complainer filed any other negative complaints again. Overall, I am happy with this story and the viewing success it has. I think our communities could each benefit a little more by treating situations like this as Cop Bobbie did.