Double edge sword

The Boston Marathon Bombing was terrible and I hope they find the ones responsible as soon as possible.  On that note, PetaPixel reported that Reddit and 4chan users are working to identify the Boston Bomber/s using any and all available photos.  The police, FBI and other law enforcements have pleaded to the public to submit any photos taken from the marathon, before and after the bombings, so they can scour the pictures for any suspicious people.  Because of this, they already have found two questionable people who they would like to interview.

This is great that the public can help with the investigation but like the title of this post states, it is a double edge sword.  Reddit and 4chan users are collaborating to find any suspect from all pictures submitted online.  This is a great idea for sharing ideas and opinions but it is also awful for sharing false evidence.  This tactic ends up being a witch hunt and many innocent people will become a victim like the main character of The Scarlett Letter.  One poster from the Reddit website wanted to remind people about Richard Jewell, who was wrongfully ousted as a suspect of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing.  Richard Jewell's life was ruined because of the false accusations by the media.  With the help of the internet and forums like Reddit and 4chan, internet users might as well be part of the media and the same mistakes can happen for an innocent bystander who was photographed with a black backpack. This marriage of technology, art, and media (polygamous marriage?) has shot people into 15 minutes of successful fame like Carly Rae Jepsen (the Call me Maybe singer) or everlasting unwanted notoriety like Epic Boobs Girl (eventually EBG came around and accepted her internet fame).

So if Reddit and 4chan users do help find the suspect/s, they most likely ruined tens, if not hundreds, of lives along the way for falsely accusing innocent bystanders.  It's great to be socially active, online or outside, but like many things in life, there are appropriate venues for certain types of activities.  Leave the investigation to the pros, help out the law enforcement, don't impede it.