Lastly, as families, friends, first responders, witnesses, and young generations desire for their voice to be heard in the memorialization of September 11th, hashtags have established a platform where multiple vantage points can be represented. Diane Taylor who navigated the slippery surface of understanding her role as a spectator amongst the grieving and the heroes asked herself this question: “If this is a tragedy, whose tragedy?” (Taylor, 260). On social media, it is anyone’s tragedy. The hashtag, which belongs to no one and does not singularly represent one group, is everyone’s tool to vocalize their thoughts, both positive and negative, about the terrorist attacks. Individuals have the choice to express their messages through private profiles only available to the people they accept as friends or share their emotions through public profiles that can be accessed by the world. The choice to represent one’s memory is however individual or collective the person desires.
Families and witnesses have used the hashtag in complimentary ways. Family members can hashtag their deceased relative’s name, asking their followers to pray for this individual, or they can hashtag the name and provide a picture to give the name a story. Furthermore, similarly to what Diane Taylor describes, “photographs fulfilled an enormous public function: they involved us, the non-heroes, non-victims, in the search, in the hope, in the morning” (Taylor, 250), the American public, not affected by the grief of loss, can offer their support and guidance to those people still attempting to find closure. In addition, over the years, the hashtag “whereIwas” has become popular, as witnesses have tweeted about where they were when they first learned about the attacks, thus thrusting themselves into the 9/11 narrative. Diana Taylor argues, “Photography was evidence, proof not so much of the existence of the object of the photograph but of our own existence. We, the background participants in this drama, were nonetheless there” (Taylor, 255). The hashtag gives people the opportunity to inform people of their presence in the tragedy.
Finally, the hashtag gives a sense of representation to the rising generations. As the youth were too young to understand at the time of the attacks, this generation, including my own age group are now responsible to learn about September 11th, 2001, and we have the tools to do so. Most consumed by social media, these generations have the ability to discuss the event, comprehend it, and preserve it. " I believe that a new generation of scholars and museum professionals perhaps less burdened by personal and emotional connections to the attacks will study and exhibit these materials with a vigor that will enable our society to interpret 9/11 in ways that balance our need to commemorate with the more complex and demanding task of understanding who we are as a nation and what freedom and never forgetting mean in a world remade by the 9/11 attacks" (Hyman, 74). Social media and the hashtag give the the future the ability to do this.
"So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart” (Collins)." Yes, there are thousands of names and thousands of voices surrounding September 11th, but the site of memory created in the hashtag has given a newfound power to all those who desire representation.
Families and witnesses have used the hashtag in complimentary ways. Family members can hashtag their deceased relative’s name, asking their followers to pray for this individual, or they can hashtag the name and provide a picture to give the name a story. Furthermore, similarly to what Diane Taylor describes, “photographs fulfilled an enormous public function: they involved us, the non-heroes, non-victims, in the search, in the hope, in the morning” (Taylor, 250), the American public, not affected by the grief of loss, can offer their support and guidance to those people still attempting to find closure. In addition, over the years, the hashtag “whereIwas” has become popular, as witnesses have tweeted about where they were when they first learned about the attacks, thus thrusting themselves into the 9/11 narrative. Diana Taylor argues, “Photography was evidence, proof not so much of the existence of the object of the photograph but of our own existence. We, the background participants in this drama, were nonetheless there” (Taylor, 255). The hashtag gives people the opportunity to inform people of their presence in the tragedy.
Finally, the hashtag gives a sense of representation to the rising generations. As the youth were too young to understand at the time of the attacks, this generation, including my own age group are now responsible to learn about September 11th, 2001, and we have the tools to do so. Most consumed by social media, these generations have the ability to discuss the event, comprehend it, and preserve it. " I believe that a new generation of scholars and museum professionals perhaps less burdened by personal and emotional connections to the attacks will study and exhibit these materials with a vigor that will enable our society to interpret 9/11 in ways that balance our need to commemorate with the more complex and demanding task of understanding who we are as a nation and what freedom and never forgetting mean in a world remade by the 9/11 attacks" (Hyman, 74). Social media and the hashtag give the the future the ability to do this.
"So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart” (Collins)." Yes, there are thousands of names and thousands of voices surrounding September 11th, but the site of memory created in the hashtag has given a newfound power to all those who desire representation.