In today’s news landscape bad news is broadcasted as a way of entertainment. Whether someone is hurt or disaster strikes, we as a society feed off the bad news. But what about the happy ending?
Due to social media, bad news can sometimes turn into good news. One retweet turns into thousands, one share turns into hundreds and the bad news spreads like a wild fire. In cases such as Ahmed Mohamed, a teen boy from Texas who was arrested for showing his teacher a homemade clock which was mistaken for a bomb; all the backlash actually turned to his benefit. Social media spread his story out of sympathy and he was broadcasted worldwide on news channels, YouTube and all platforms of the internet. Eventually, the president of The United States, Barack Obama, got wind of the story and reached out to him through Twitter. “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great,” Obama tweeted.
Not only did Obama reach out to Mohamed, but so did Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg through a post on Facebook. “Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed,” Zuckerberg said. “Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building.”
This has not been the only case in which bad news took a turn for the better. Osama Abdul Mohsen, a Syrian refugee was shown on camera being kicked and tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman, his story was also widely broadcasted. He recently got offered an apartment and a job in Spain after the director of a soccer academy saw his story. Knowing his history with soccer, the director offered Mohsen a position as a coach.
These are only a few of the many cases in which social media has shined a light on dark topics. Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr are three of the most popular websites to post and share about the bad news in the world. Missing children, mistreated women and everything in between gets shared. The power of the internet is stronger than ever and has the potential to make a person feel good about the news that they are reading. People with large social media platforms have started using their following count to inform and help with world problems that have previously been unexplored. Every share, every like, every retweet is one step closer to bringing justice to people who truly deserve justice.

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