In a world where gun violence and school shootings are becoming more prevalent, universities find themselves making new plans of action to accommodate for the changing environment we now live in. UNC Chapel Hill experienced this on August 28th, 2023 at 1:03 pm when they went into lockdown due to a perceived threat of a gunman on campus. Community members took to social media during and after the incident and conversations are still ongoing nearing three weeks after the lockdown.
The incident had a reach of 6.16 billion and as of today had 901.81 K mentions. In addition to the shooting on August 28th, UNC Chapel Hill experienced another lockdown on Wednesday, September 13th, 2023.
Conversations peaked on August 28th, 2023 and additionally peaked on September 13th following the second lockdown. Conversations and mentions of the topic were primarily held on X (formerly Twitter).
In addition to debates on gun laws in North Carolina and the response of UNC Chapel Hill to the two lockdowns, one of the major conversations that took place surrounding the incident on Aug. 28th was pertaining to the university’s student newspaper.
Not only is the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, a nonprofit publication, it is also the only print publication for Orange County, NC. This made for an even larger local audience to boost conversations. On August 30th, 2023, the student-led newspaper released an addition of the paper attempting to capture what students, faculty, staff, and community members all felt during the events two days prior.
The Daily Tar Heel’s X (formerly Twitter) account reposted the announcement of the newspaper cover by Caitlyn Yaede, print managing editor of the student paper. The newspaper cover has since been used nationally by numerous reporting agencies as they cover the incident. The post (and newspaper) went viral with 8.3 million views and 24.4K reposts. Additionally, it opened another avenue in the comments for users to hold discussions on the newspaper, both positive and negative.
Other major conversations surrounding the incident were in regard to the UNC Chapel Hill’s March for Our Lives Chapter, a gun activist group, presence at North Carolina legislature meeting. The group was escorted from the Chambers after chanting “vote them out” at the legislators. Social media conversations highlighted this event as it was only one day before the school and community members found themselves in a second lockdown (September 12th, 2023).
Conversations are still ongoing as the nation and the UNC Chapel Hill community deals with the effects of this incident. The shooting on August 28th, 2023 resulted in the death of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the department of Applied Physical Sciences.
Author: Lexi Merriman
