War on Two Fronts

On Feb. 24, 2022, tensions between Russia and Ukraine boiled over as Russia sent an army across the border and began its invasion. This conflict between these two countries is nothing new. Problems have been flaring up since 2014 but this recent issue has been one of, if not the most publicized war. Many Ukrainian citizens have been taking to social media to expose the acts of Russian soldiers. Many of these videos will assist in the investigation of war crimes after the war is over. On the flip side, there are videos exposing the tactical issues that Russia is having. Videos of Russian soldiers walking the streets of Ukraine after their tank runs out of gas go viral on social media platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram. This type of publicization and exposure is something that hasn’t been seen yet in a war.

In a recent interview done with Pennridge High School senior, Ryan Schuler, accredited social media and more specifically, Tik Tok updates, to stay in the loop with the whole situation. Social media is being used to sway the public’s opinion about the war in favor of Ukraine. They are using Russia’s own tactics of colorful communication to cause outrage. For example, there are videos of Russian airstrikes hitting civilian apartment buildings and tanks running over civilian cars. These brutal acts are being exposed on social media for all the world to see.

Concerning the use of social media to spread information, there will always be a group of people who post fake or old videos on different platforms. In an interview with Pennridge High School History Teacher, Timothy Busch, he stated, “To be well informed on any one current event I think that an individual needs to seek out information from multiple news sources not just relying on information from one source.” In this day and age, anyone can post anything on social media and claim it is true. It is important to find multiple sources verifying certain information to be sure it is true.

While this is true, many still stick to social media as their main outlet for information. This may have downsides, but this is where most of the raw information and videos of battles in Ukraine can be found when verified. Ukrainian citizens are recording videos from their apartment windows of tanks running off occupied cars and missiles hitting nearby buildings. In such a time where social media is becoming a big source of information for this war, it is important to make sure what you are seeing is true before you come to conclusions about what may be going on.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/03/01/social-media-ukraine-russia/