The Troy Davis case dominated national headlines, while the execution of white supremacist Lawrence Brewer on the same day was barely a footnote. Part of the reason for that can be linked directly to the social media,
ATLANTA -- The Troy Davis case dominated national headlines, while the execution of white supremacist Lawrence Brewer in Texas on the same day was barely a footnote.
Part of the reason for that can be linked directly to the social media, where Davis' cause was adopted and spread exponentially in real time all over the world. Brewer's case was not.
NBC's Today Show is No. 1 in the morning, averaging about 5 million viewers -- many of whom likely saw the program's lead story on Troy Davis Thursday.
But the numbers there are dwarfed by the numbers at a most unlikely source: Kim Kardashian's Twitter account. She also "covered" the Troy Davis case, tweeting updates and insistences of Davis' innocence to her nearly 10 million followers.
And if you doubt the power of the celebrity plus social media algorithm, consider this: when it comes to the key ratings demos, Kim Kardashian has more than all three major networks in the morning combined.
It was that kind of social media saturation that led to big crowds all over the country protesting the execution.
"Social media became an opportunity to amplify the work that we've done on Troy Davis," said Jared Feuer of Amnesty International. "[It] allowed it to take on a momentum and a life of its own, where people could very quickly connect with each other."
And many of those people took on the challenge.
"Our friend texted us and told us if we could get here, then to get up here," said 21 year-old Joseph Sweat, who attended a Troy Davis rally at the Georgia State Capitol.
"It's a really big deal," said his friend, 19 year-old Josie Huff. "I think we just wanted to be part of the movement."
But that kind of reach may still not be enough to provoke change by itself.
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"The important thing to remember about social media is that it's not just a platform on its own," Feuer said. "It also has to connect with real world organizing that's going on on the street. It's a way to share information, but we believe that it's only part of the puzzle. You'll also need to have on-the-ground organizing as well."