On July 23, 2015, in the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, a gunman opened fire in the 7 o’clock showing of the movie, Trainwreck. Mayci Breaux, 21, and Jillian Johnson, 33, both received fatal wounds. Nine others were injured. As part of a community healing event following the shooting, a Tagboard was established around the hashtag LafayetteStrong. This study was conducted using a content analysis of 493 photographs and images among these posts. Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis provides a framework for these findings to better comprehend the online performance of self for a grieving community. The images of people, objects, and digital images present evidence of an authentic self to a grieving community in the wake of a local tragedy.

Solidarity is a common response after a mass shooting. Social media and social media affordances, such as hashtags, are valuable technological tools after such events. How does social media facilitate the response to mass shootings? In particular, how do platform affordances shape solidarity practices? To this end, I analyzed Instagram images tagged #LafayetteStrong 2 years after a mass shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana. I observed several solidarity-inspired themes including material objects, community events and landmarks, references to support and reflection, and photographs as advertisements. I argue that Instagram affords a mediated form of solidarity, visually documenting ritualized community practices, while also facilitating individualized and subjective interpretations of solidarity. Users exploited Instagram’s affordances for advertisement purposes, capitalizing on a community-centered hashtag. These findings contribute to the sociological literature on mass shootings, the visual construction of solidarity, and the influence of technology.

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