I guess the most intriguing aspect about the shooting in Santa Barbara California the other day, is the way social media has exploded in response to the coverage of the incident. With 6 dead and 13 injured, reporters are placing heavy emphasis on the mental illness of Elliot Roger and American gun laws.

This has sparked many debates on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr with many making arguments about Roger’s rather disgusting opinions on women. It wasn’t until I had read a few of the hate fueled posts about ‘not all men being like that’ that I even knew what had happened – and I can see where they are coming from. The articles on the devastating story only highlight the facts of what happened; who died, who was injured and who was responsible. Rogers is almost excused for his crimes because he had high functioning Asperger’s syndrome, not because he was a raging sexist misogynist. After reading the news, I might have believed that his mental illness could be to blame for what happened. And this is where I feel like social media has a real advantage over a situation like this. It raises a debate that would otherwise be unheard of in the newspapers or on TV.

The stereotypes linger because there are “expectations” by too many men for women to look, act, and serve society monotonously. #YesAllWomen

— Janae Moodie (@JanaeMoodie) May 27, 2014

Yes I understand that the argument over women’s’ rights has being going on for decades, but social media sites like Tumblr have successfully kept these arguments fresh. Now I’m not saying that everything people have been writing should be taken into context, but it is always fascinating watching millions of social media users react so quickly to an issue in an effort to make sure that everyone understands that reporters don’t always talk about the bigger issue.