The mainstream media is forced to deal with the growing use of social media as well. As social media grows less people are watching the news or reading newspapers; is has become much easier to view the news in real time as opposed to having to wait until the evening, or even the next day, to know what is going on in the world. People are now able to know what is happening around the world in minutes as opposed to days. For instance, during the United States’ raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in 2011, a citizen of the city was unexpectedly live Tweeting the entire event. At first he complained about the noise, but after he found out the next day what had happened he was known world-wide. However, main stream media faces a problem when dealing with law enforcement in the affected areas. At the height of the Ferguson protests in 2014, many major news networks were banned from reporting in the cities and numerous reporters were arrested for trying to continue their broadcasts. Because of this, much of the information the public gained about the situation came from firsthand accounts from within the city itself, and even some reporters took to social media to describe their personal interactions with the police.
However social media users—both those using it for information and those trying to spread awareness—are completely against the amounts of regulation some law enforcers are looking to create. Those who use it for information want to continue to observe the issues and maintain their connectivity, and those who are spreading awareness allow for the solidarity to be felt between affected populations.