Distance Learning

The media has a huge impact on what remains in the thoughts and minds of the general public. If the media continues to replay the information about the PSU scandal then people will continue to talk about it both in person and through social media sites such as Twitter. This chain of events only perpetuates the situation causing information to spread like wild fire. This is what decides which topics become very well known through out not only the U.S. but also the world. This is what has happened to the scandal of Penn State University, with Jerry Sandusky’s molestation of multiple little boys and the cover up that caused Joe Paterno to lose his job as well as his respect from many. Twitter and other social media has had an impact on the PSU scandal in a large way as it continues to constantly update the world on what is going on while allowing people to share their own opinions, both good and bad, on the issue, especially about Paterno himself.

While analyzing Twitter and the posts concerning Penn State and the Joe Paterno scandal three of the main themes were power, media, and deviance. These three issues intersect a lot in the PSU scandal, especially among Twitter. The idea of power has been bounced around on Twitter, with tweets like Paterno’s record of 409 wins for football for Penn State, how the students continue to support Paterno and riot for him and the question of if his statue is still standing. The most interesting aspect of this theme is the debate of if he should or should not have been fired and if he did do what he was supposed to do by relaying the information. All of these things play into how much power the world put in Joe Paterno and how beloved he truly was by so many. The media, especially outlets such as Twitter continue to perpetuate this story and continuously update the public on new information. Deviance is the last main theme with many people tweeting the line of “horse play” and the fact that Paterno was fired over the phone when all of this could have stopped if he had only made a phone call. In general the idea of deviance correlates with just how wrong this whole situation is, how it all could have been stopped after the very first boy. The ideas of power, media, and deviance together sums up this scandal, how the deviance or misguided use of power lead to this tragedy, and how it is now all being spread through the media.

Power I think gives the best reasoning to why this situation occurred the best, the fact that so many people gave Joe Paterno so much power. The trust that the public put in Paterno as being someone who was all mighty allowed this cover up to happen. When in reality power, and the misuse of power is when people begin to believe that they no longer need to fallow the rules anymore. People begin to believe that they are above the rules. This was the case here as well, because something else should have been done, the school did not have the right, did not have the power, to try and cover up all the awful things that happened in that locker room.

I personally think Paterno should have done more. This whole situation makes me sick and even reading about the things people post on Twitter and how much it involves the pension that Paterno will receive or the possible hiding of his assets, all of these people posted about these topics, but in reality their concern should be for the boys themselves. The scandal that was caused from trying to hide the molestation only ended up leading to more cases and more little boys being hurt by this disaster. That is what people should really be tweeting about, not about Joe Paterno and how sad it is for him, but how sad it is for so many young boys to have been devastated and so deeply traumatized.

Twitter is not the most reliable source ever created but it spreads ideas, thoughts, and information to the whole world in just the click of a button. The information may not always be exact but the content most definitely gets the world thinking and discussing information. This is not the last the world has heard about Joe Paterno and Twitter will continue to keep the story alive.

Jennifer Branson
Kin 338i Sec 06