Empire State Building Shooting: Jeffrey Johnson's Images Displayed On Instagram First
By Donovan Jackson | Aug 28, 2012 11:14 AM EDT
With the evolution of the capabilities of smartphones and their applications many professions are now being substituted and watered down to simply a snapshot, description and the number of likes.
Friday's frightening murder of a Hazan Imports worker by the hands of disgruntled ex-employee Jeffrey T. Johnson , went viral before professional journalist had the chance to produce the story.
Some of the witnesses used Instagram, a photo-sharing platform, to capture and quickly share the shocking violence in Midtown.
With Instagram, which Facebook bought for $1 billion earlier this year, a photo of something mundane can be transformed into retro-looking art using the filters the platform offers. But the app also allows instant sharing, and can be configured to post simultaneously to a user's Facebook and Twitter feed, which is why photos of the Manhattan crime scene instantly went viral last week.
Instagram was never intended to be used as a crime scene tool or a product for wannabe reporters to upload content, however with little restrictions on what can and cant be posted to the mobile app, users have the opportunity to post what they see fit and relevant.
Because the app doesn't have a "crime scene" filter and there are no categories or notifications that warn users they're about to see a photo of a bloody dead body.
As blood eroded from Johnson's lifeless body bystanders snapped countless photos.
Opinions were divided on the topic. The most compelling argument came from NBC news correspondent Ann Curry. "Careful re: pictures as families cannot have been notified this quickly," she tweeted.
As social networking continues to advance, certain professions may have an impending doom as anyone with a smartphone and a witty photo description can perform their job.
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