Social media storms deluge the news

"It is a peculiar thing to be in the eye of a social media storm."

That comment could be attributed to many, including the general public, which is increasingly reading hashtag-headlined stories that originate or accelerate on social media. Or it could be the reflection of instant celebrities who were propelled to prominence via viral content. But the person caught in this particular storm was already publicly prominent — Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, who was referring to social media's role in #pointergate.

These days, social media is driving news narratives and, in the process, upending lives and livelihoods. But in Hodges' case, being in the eye of the storm was a safe place to be.

That's partly because #pointergate disrupted the normal course of the political-media industrial complex, in which a charge unanswered becomes a fact — and fast. Sure, a mayoral spokeswoman expedited an explanation to the alarming allegation that Hodges had flashed a gang sign during a photo-op (she was pointing, thus the Twitter term #pointergate). But it was about a week — an eon in the online era — before the mayor posted an online response and was interviewed by the Star Tribune and Minnesota Public Radio.

Why wait?

"The Internet was saying what needed saying. Or, I should say, the people of the Internet," Hodges said in a Nov. 14 interview.

The unintended conflation of the medium with the mass may be because media memes can seem so monolithic. In the case of #pointergate, the collective voice let Hodges keep quiet.

Several essential elements fueled #pointergate, said Shayla Thiel-Stern, an associate professor of journalism and mass media at the University of Minnesota who teaches a course in new media and culture. Humor, for instance. "It had the element of sarcasm, which is very important to many of us on Twitter," said Thiel-Stern, laughing.

Other factors include media criticism and social justice. "Twitter sort of offers all of us an opportunity to be media critics, to be Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert. But it also offers the opportunity to speak back to injustice," Thiel-Stern said, "This is why #pointergate went viral."

So viral it infected national news outlets like CNN, MSNBC and Stewart's "The Daily Show."

"Increasingly traditional media turns to social media users to set its agenda, for better or worse," Thiel-Stern said. "I think in this case for the better, because it turned a critical eye to questionable journalism, but it also illuminated another undercurrent in culture right now — this concern about racism. Media representation of race is still so questionable. The fact that this has provoked national conversation is significant. And great."

The other hashtag headline of the month, #AlexFromTarget, revealed how social media's speed can change a life not just overnight, but over a work shift.

He had to be moved to the stockroom, and by the time his shift ended and he turned on his phone, it nearly melted with texts and messages. At the start of his shift, he had 144 Twitter followers. At the end, more than 100,000. "Am I famous now?" he tweeted.

Yes. So much so that he declined dozens of national media interview requests, although he did appear on "Ellen" and talked with the Times. (He also experienced the dark side of instant Internet fame, including death threats.)

Asked by Ellen DeGeneres about special talents, Alex replied: "Apparently, I can bag groceries pretty well."

"Sometimes something that mundane is all that it takes to touch you," said Thiel-Stern, who, not one to bury the lead, also added that, "He happened to be cute, and that appealed to a demographic that is important to Twitter — teen girls."

It's hard to predict and impossible to proscribe viral content, let alone how its speed can affect the news narrative. But it's here to stay.

But, she added, "The shelf life is shorter."

And right on cue, Thursday's social media storm focused on a New York Times story declaring grape salad Minnesota's traditional Thanksgiving side dish. Quickly, however, the digital tempest over #grapegate yielded to the wrath directed toward the Big Stone County Republican Party chairman, who posted an incendiary anti-Muslim screed on Facebook.

Just like meteorological forecasts, media trends are difficult to predict.

But more social media blizzards are sure to develop.