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Social media insights on local neighborhood video that went viral

After a Fort Jackson soldier was captured on video in a hostile exchange with a young Black man in a local neighborhood, the video quickly went viral.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — After a Fort Jackson soldier was captured on video in a hostile exchange with a young Black man in a local neighborhood, the video quickly went viral. 

As the investigation into the case continues, it looks as if the conversation will, as well. 

The University of South Carolina's Social Media Insights Lab showed us the trends online since the video went viral. 

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"This isn't an isolated conversation. It's something that's reaching across many audiences and affecting a lot of people online," says Kait Park, manager of UofSC's Social Media Insights Lab, who walked us through the real-time reach of the video, which has now spread internationally. 

"Right away, I think it goes without saying that this video and the way that it was shared has really become a viral moment. And to say that it has blown up on Twitter is an understatement because really we are seeing this across content platforms. People are discussing this video," Park says.

Park adds that the way that the video was originally shared makes it unique, "We do know that the video was shot by two people here in South Carolina, but it was not shared on their personal social media accounts. They took a different approach and a different step by sharing this video with somewhat of a Twitter influencer," Park continues. "It was a very effective way to make sure that it reached a lot of people." 

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The video was viewed over 5 million times with 128,000 mentions in the last 36 hours and Park thinks there's probably more to come. "Not just a snapshot in time, this is a wave that continues to ebb and flow as new details emerge and people subsequently react to them."  

And according to data the lab has seen so far, "I would say that this conversation is not over." 

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