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Ray Rice's termination from the Baltimore Ravens and his indefinite suspension from the NFL was not because he was indicted by a grand jury in March for third-degree aggravated assault in the punching of his then fiancée in an elevator in Atlantic City - it was because he did it in front of a video camera in the age of social media.
The Baltimore Ravens terminated running back Ray Rice's contract Sept. 8 after a graphic video emerged from TMZ and fast went viral on social media. The video shows Rice punching his fiancée, now his wife, in a hotel elevator in February. The video outraged millions on social media and drew fresh questions about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's handling of the situation. In July, the NFL suspended Rice for just two games - although Goodell previously issued much heavier fines for issues such as substance abuse.
What did social media have to do with the fate of Ray Rice?
Social media created a firestorm of outrage, with Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram lighting up with a collective outrage by regular folks, celebrities, civic leaders, religious thinkers and, of course, shares by news outlets and sports journalists and bloggers.
The matrix of social media tightened around the Rice drama, as a cumulative and assembled voice raised loudly with everything from criticisms of the NFL to insults cast at Rice's expense, and even posts by Rice's wife conveying anger, humiliation and disgust at the public ridicule and professional damage done to her husband. Would Rice have continued to play on as a gridiron hero, inspiring youths and receiving cheers, if social media did not exist? Quite possibly. Correction: Make that probably.
The reality is, TMZ's release of the damning video gave rise to a social media apocalypse for Rice, the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL.
Highlights from the social media storm of Rice's fall from grace include:
• On Sept. 8, Rice's shameful behavior - captured in the raw video footage - gained rapid, almost frenzied, attention by top media platforms, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Post, USA Today, CNN, Fox News and scores more. This created a social media storm across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram and YouTube, with social media users, including celebrities, civic leaders and political figures, voicing shock and condemnation over the enormity of barbarism played out in the video. By the millions, people were tweeting and sharing articles covering the Rice drama - and adding their own viewpoints of Rice, his wife, the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL.
• The Baltimore Ravens released news of its verdict against Rice on its Twitter account @Ravens. The Twitter feed, with tweets announcing the termination of Rice, as well as an offer by the Baltimore Ravens to exchange Ray Rice jerseys at stadium stores. The tweets receive more than 56,000 and 3,000 retweets respectively.
• As reported by ESPN, a day after a new video surfaced showing Rice hitting now wife in the face, Janay Rice defended her husband and criticized the media. She released on Instagram: "I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend. But to have to accept the fact that it's reality is a nightmare itself. No one knows the pain that the media & unwanted [opinions] from the public has caused my family. To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horrible thing."
• On Sept. 9, Twitter was flooded with heartwrenching stories from women explaining why they remained in abusive relationships and why they finally left. The emotional outpouring was collected under two hashtags, #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft. Writer and domestic abuse survivor Beverly Gooden said she started the campaign #WhyIStayed when she heard of Rice's video because she wanted to change the tone of the conversation. Gooden said she married her husband after he hit her because she loved him - and, she wanted to protect him.
Social media not only reacts to, but influences, the world at large. Keep this in mind: Social media can be unforgiving. It defends and protects no one. Titans of industry, leaders of business, celebrated athletes, corporation giants - all can be reduced to rubble if social media casts its verdict.