The recent bombings in Boston have drawn some focus on the increasing influence that social media has on our society. When the winners of the marathon were announced, there were an estimated 42,000 tweets that mentioned Boston. After the bombs, that number increased to 1.8 million. Several of these tweets included firsthand accounts of what had taken place. As a result of this, Twitter got the word out faster than the mainstream means of media.

Some tweets even offered important information to runners of where they could go to get help. After a few hours, Twitter and Facebook became perfect channels through which those affected could vent their emotions. Whether they were of anger or of grief, these messages allowed people to share what was on their mind, and allowed people across the globe to receive a more personal account of what happened.

Not everything that happened on social media was good, however. Several stories have spread across social media that are simply untrue, some of which have already been proven wrong. Furthermore many people are tweeting pictures tweaked on Photoshop relating to the bombings in order to gain attention.

Regardless of the bad that social media brings, it brings a lot of good. For example, if you are planning to go on a run in honor of the tragedy, tweet #RunForBoston. This is something that is spreading across Twitter, and has become a comfort to those affected.