Casey Anthony Verdict

Casey Anthony Verdict - When my family and I learned that Casey Anthony received a “not guilty” verdict, I think our brains turned inside out from disbelief. We had just been in Canada for the weekend, a.k.a. we had few ties to United States news (but did you hear that the British Royals came to visit north North America? I heard it too — 10 million times). So when we came back to the states, we immediately looked for updates on the Casey Anthony trial.

And trust me, when I heard about the outcome, it was the first time in years that I was silent. Let’s just say I’m not going to throw a “Yay! Congrats, Casey!” party anytime soon.

If we hadn’t rushed to check out the news feature on our phones, though (which, I just want to say, is the best thing on my Droid phone), my brothers and I would have heard the verdict on our Facebook. Forty-five percent of my friends made it their status, 20 percent posted links to news clippings, and maybe 32 percent talked about how all of their friends were talking about it. There was no escape.

And it wasn’t just Facebook that was blowing up. According to Crimson Hexagon, which is a real-time media analyst firm, there were “325,283 posts on Twitter (on Tuesday) about the Casey Anthony trial — most from the time of the verdict.”

Casey Anthony Verdict - Recently in the Facebook circles, I’ve heard that a scam post has being going around, claiming that there’s a video of Casey Anthony confessing to her lawyer. The video is actually a scam, and if you click to try to see it, and then to confirm your age, the site will get your personal information.

This is bad for many different reasons. One, it’s disappointing that there actually isn’t a real confession going around (could you imagine even more O.J. Simpson-esque possibilities?). Two, no one likes third parties to come and snatch up their information via Facebook. That’s just creepy. But there’s yet another reason why this sucks, at least for me.

As a news-editorial major, I’m not going to say I don’t read the news. MSNBC is the first thing I see when I open up a browser, I often snatch my dad’s Time magazine before he has a chance to read it, and I’m a fairly regular New York Times reader (online, of course).

However, at times, I hear new news from my social media sites. Yes, I go to actual news sources and check out more details and facts afterward, but sometimes, I get a little nudge from Twitter and Facebook. So when you combine that with the fact that I would have liked to see Ms. Anthony confess … well, yeah. I would have clicked on the link too, had I gotten the chance. Anyone may be tempted to believe it, regardless of which side they fell.

I’m definitely not trying to shift the focus away from the Casey Anthony trial and onto Facebook. There’s still the point that I think the verdict is more than slightly ridiculous. I just wish people wouldn’t take advantage of our attention on newsworthy topics and create fake videos, all to get personal information. Don’t toy with anyone’s emotions, scammy. Whether we believe Casey Anthony is as innocent as the white proverbial lamb or guilty as a 9-year-old boy with chocolate all over his face, is up to us.

There are people out there who try and use news — the pieces of information we rely on as fact — and twist it for entertainment purposes, scam devices or advertising. We should use social media for news and noteworthy happenings, yes. But we’ve also got to check the facts again. And recheck. And, just maybe, don’t click on anything on Facebook. { www.dailyillini.com }

Casey Anthony Verdict Video