After a gunman murdered three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, NC, the Twitter hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter trended worldwide.
Investigators have discovered that the act was not a hate crime, but a dispute over parking (the murderer was obsessed over parking spaces). But when the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) slaughtered 21 Coptic Christians specifically for their faith, Twitter users were comparatively silent. #ChristianLivesMatter and #CopticLivesMatter barely made a speck on the platform.
The popularity of the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter spiked on February 10, after the murders, with almost 20,000 results. The screenshots show comparisons between the Muslim hashtag, #ChristianLivesMatter, and #CopticLivesMatter. #MuslimLivesMatter took over 96% shares during the same time.
Using statistics put together by the Twitter analytics tool Tweet Binder, we can track the popularity of all three hashtags over time.
#ChristianLivesMatter was formed after the executions but only received 203 results.
More Twitter accounts paid attention to #CopticLivesMatter, but still nothing compared to the Muslim hashtag. This one received almost 1,300 results at its peak.
Studying the use of social media can be a valuable tool to analyze how people view the world. The Chapel Hill murders are a horrific crime, but the evidence indicates that the victims were not killed over their faith.
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