Karyn Caplan  😷

Remembering #January6th investigating today. The blows, bangs, yells and screams are still seared into me... But so is a deep appreciation for the tenacious volunteers that subjected themselves to the same awful footage, day after day... 1/

2/ Crowdsourcing around #January6th helped create a historically unprecedented ecosystem of public accountability. In the critical first days and weeks, when little felt certain, it seemed like one of our best chances to help discourage a violent repeat at the inauguration.

3/ The #January6th crowdsourcing quickly began showing the whole world who had participated in the #CapitolInsurrection. It also it kept surfacing steady stream of images and footage. This helped frustrate the many early cynical efforts to minimize the event & rewrite history.

5/ Over time, volunteer groups matured techniques & ethics, and focused on different areas and questions. Their findings were critical to visual investigations from traditional media about the day. Meanwhile, other groups focused on creating searchable media repositories.

6/ Still today, much of what the public knows about #January6th can be linked to the outputs of volunteer efforts, and collaborations with traditional media. Many harm-doers faced accountability because of them, too