Brandon Stanton, the man behind the blog “Humans of New York,” spent two weeks in Greece photographing and interviewing refugees from the Middle East resulting in a series of posts describing the heartbreak and tragedy experienced by those who made the journey.
Stanton’s blog is on the major social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram, followed by 15.6 million people on Facebook alone. Stanton’s blog captures the viewer initially with a photograph of the person who is the subject of that particular blog post, and then proceeds to relay the story or quote told by that person.
Reading posts about Greece instead of New York was eye-opening to viewers. Kourtney Kluza, a freshman from Colorado studying international cultural studies, said about the refugee crisis that encompasses Greece, “Until ‘Humans of New York,’ I didn’t even know about it.”
While not everyone knows about “Humans of New York,” Johannah Martin, a freshman from California with an undeclared major, recognized the importance of such social media in society. “It’s crazy to think that’s happening right now. You’re doing your homework and hanging out with friends, living a happy life. But there’s something going on right now, and it might be across the world, but it’s still happening.” said Martin.
“It’s weird to think about, and I don’t think we fully comprehend it, but pictures and social media help us understand better that it’s not in the past and it’s something that we can fix.”
Kazuyuki Kamiya, a senior accounting major from Japan, explained how social media is able to make situations across the world, which might otherwise not reach a wide audience, common knowledge. “Now social media is pretty big and instead of watching the news or reading newspapers, people pay attention to the things that pop up on their social media, and so that can have a great impact.”
Social media pages and blogs that inform followers of the circumstances of the world allow not only for word to spread, but also for connections to be made.
Akanesi Ahonima, a senior psychology major from Tonga, said photos of real people with their own stories makes it feel real to the person viewing that post.
Colton McBride, a freshman biochemistry major from Utah, felt that with blogs like ‘Humans of New York,’ reaching out to people they become a good influence. “The people reading will be inclined to help the people trapped in the situation at hand and then maybe even just one person can be helped, which is an improvement from none,” said McBride.
This is not the first time Stanton has traveled to cover events of the world. In August of 2014, Stanton also visited Iraq, Jordan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There he was able to bring the reality of the lives of suffering citizens to people blessed with reliable internet, according to the New York Times.