This tweet, from a user named The Captain Aidan, is an incredibly illuminating view into modern society in multiple ways. First, you obviously have yet another school shooting in the United States, a problem we continue to grapple with in this country. Second, the photo shows that students in the middle of one of those school shootings are still actively texting, tweeting and posting photos and video to multimedia. Third, and perhaps most disturbing, it highlights the competitive world of breaking news and the desire to get the photo at all costs.
As Aidan continues to tweet from the classroom, reporters begin to hound him. Do they want to wish him well? Do they want to pass words along to his family or loved ones? No, they want permission to air his photos on television or maybe even score an interview with the kid.
At least Meghan, who says she works at CBS, was kind enough to ask if Aidan was alive and well before asking for permission to use the photo. CNN's iReporter was keen to learn more but perhaps in this case was a bit more tactful in attempting to direct message Aiden, hiding the content from public view.
Many, many more reporters sent similar (and perhaps even more outrageous) messages only to delete them later. They were called out by Aidan's followers for the predatory behavior.
So much here all teased out of a single tweet. However, I think it's pretty obvious that these reporters (sometimes dozens from a single news outlet) routinely descend on people in deadly or dangerous situations to obtain multimedia for stories or score an exclusive interview from the scene. And, that, quite honestly, is some disgusting shit.