The Bombing of Pearl Harbor was a historic event, as it was the main reason that the United States got involved in World War II. If this event occurred in the age of Twitter and times of social media, many Americans would have known about it sooner, and many would have voiced their opinions about getting involved in the war. Moreover, many would have expressed their condolences to anyone affected as many choose to do on Twitter today when an incident like that occurs.

The news of the attack on Pearl Harbor shocked Americans around the world days ago. What surprised Americans, even more was that Germany and Italy just declared war on us.

So just how did we end up getting involved in another World War?

Just days ago, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japan issued a surprise attack on America and bombed Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Hawaii. On Sunday, Japanese forces destroyed many American naval ships. Along with this, more than 2,400 Americans died while another 1,200 were wounded. The attack lasted for two hours.

Relations between Japan and American had been tense before this event. Both countries had been competing for political and economic influence in the Pacific, and the United States had stopped giving them resources, such as oil. Japan wanted to attack America to cripple the United States Navy and to prevent the United States from attacking them first. Moreover, they wanted to prevent them from gaining more influence in the region (“Pearl Harbor Bombed”).

On December 8, the President requested that Congress declare war on Japan. Congress accepted his request. Today, three days later, Germany and Italy, allies of Japan and a part of the axis powers, declared war on the United States. This officially marks the entry of the United States into World War II. After the lasting impacts of World War I, America wanted to remain neutral and stay out of any further conflict. However, after this devastating attack, President Roosevelt decided to get involved and join the allied forces (“Pearl Harbor Bombed”).

Here are recent tweets from our President explaining his decision and expressing his sympathy to those who were affected:

 

On Twitter, many Americans expressed their condolences to all those who were affected. 

@user18293: What happened in Pearl Harbor can never happen again. We must come together. #PearlHarborStrong

@user43823: This is a sign we must get involved in the war! Remaining neutral is not enough. This is unacceptable. #PearlHarborStrong #WWII #Americaisready

#PearlHarborStrong was trending on Twitter just moments after Americans heard the news. 

World War II has been ongoing since September of 1939 when Germany attacked Poland. Two days after this first invasion later, France and England declared war on Germany. After the fallout from the first World War years prior, such as economic devastation, Germany is determined to gain more influence in the world and off-set their losses. 

President Roosevelt is set to issue an address to the nation this afternoon.

Note: This is an ongoing story. Check back for more updates.

 

Works Cited:

“Pearl Harbor Bombed.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pearl-harbor-bombed.

Snap Inc. is a camera company with various products and services, such as the well-known social media platform Snapchat. A lot of people, especially teenagers, use Snapchat to communicate and share pictures with their friends. How many of those teenagers, though, read the Privacy Policy when first signing up? I guarantee not a lot. I decided to read into their Privacy Policy to see what information and data they collect.

They collect three different categories of information: the information you provide, the information we get when you use our services, and the information we obtain from third parties.

Information you provide includes what details you give them when you sign up for an account. This includes your name, email, birthday, phone number, etc. This is a pretty typical part of a Privacy Policy, so I was not surprised by anything.

Moreover, Snap Inc. collects information when you use their services, such as how you interact with ads and their services (such as filters). This did not surprise me, since many other companies do this, too, such as Facebook. As read in an article titled “Breaking up with Facebook,” every interaction we have is tracked and stored in a database. Each company may do something different with this information, but they each track down what we do. Snapchat may also track who you communicate with (and how you do so), information on what device and camera you use, your location, etc. Snapmap is a feature that a lot of teens use. You have your friends on a map, and their location updates overtime they log on. Of course, this can be turned off, but as I read in the article “Fitbit Could Prove a Man’s Innocence,” it may help specific situations.

Snap Inc. also collects information about you from other users and third parties. For example, if you link your account to another service, such as Bitmoji, the companies may trade information on how you use their services. They may also share information on how you interact with different ads to tailor your experience better.

Snap Inc. communicate with their users that they may use the information they collect with other Snapchatters, business partners, affiliates, third parties, and even the general public. While the Snaps and Chats you send are automatically deleted (unless saved), Snapchat saves a lot of your information for more extended periods or until you ask them to delete it.

While reading this Privacy Statement, I was surprised about how much information they actually store and how they share it with other companies and even the public. However, I know that even if people are aware of how their information is being collected and stored, their behaviors will not change, and they will continue to use it.

The internet and social media help us stay connected with others, as proven in “Social Media’s Not All Bad – It’s Saving Lives in Disaster Zones,” and it may help us in certain situations. However, it is up to each user to read these companies’ privacy policies and decide whether not to want to share their information and have their interactions tracked.

After showing an undergraduate student the Privacy Policy of Snapchat, I followed up with some questions.