Mass shootings on campus give rise to a new kind of life-saving service journalism: an anonymous message board called Sidechat

On December 13, as the attack on the Ivy League institution unfolded during finals week, students took to Sidechat, an anonymous campus message board widely used at American colleges, for fast-flowing, real-time information.

An Associated Press analysis of nearly 8,000 posts in the 36 hours after the shooting shows how social media has become central to how students deal with emergencies on campus.

Fifteen minutes before the university’s first alert about an active shooter, students were already documenting the chaos. Their posts — raw, fragmented and sometimes panicked — formed a digital time capsule of how a college campus experienced a mass shooting.

As students sheltered in place, they continued to hide under library tables and sit in classrooms and hallways. Some comments even came from injured students, like one who posted a selfie from a hospital bed with the simple caption: #finalsweek.

Others asked urgent questions: Was there a lockdown? Where was the shooter? Was it safe to move?

Days passed before the authorities identified the suspect and found him dead in New Hampshire from his gunshot wounds, and later linked him to the killing of a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Here’s a look at how the shooting has evolved.

Stream of collective consciousness

Described by Harvard Magazine as “the college’s collective stream of consciousness,” Sidechat allows anyone with a verified college email to post to a campus feed. Most days, Brown’s website is filled with complaints about food in the dining hall, jokes about professors, and stress about exams — fleeting posts that run the gamut of student life.

On the Saturday afternoon just before the shooting, a student posted about wanting to “play Minecraft for 60 hours straight.” Then the posts suddenly changed.

Crowds began trickling out of Brown’s Barros and Holley building, and one posted at 4:06 p.m.: “Why are people fleeing Bosnia and Herzegovina?”

Others soon followed. One wrote: “Everyone taking cover.” “Stay away from Thayer Street near McMillan, two people just got shot, I’m very serious,” another user wrote at 4:10 p.m.

Dozens of frantic messages followed as students tried to fill the information gap themselves.

One student asked: “So are we on lockdown or what?”

By the time the university alert was sent out at 4:21 p.m., the shooter was no longer on campus — a fact Brown officials did not yet know.

“Where would we be without Sidechat?” one student wrote.

A university spokesman said Brown’s alert reached 20,000 people minutes after school public safety officials were notified that shots had been fired. Spokesman Brian E. Clark said officials intentionally did not use sirens to avoid sending people rushing for shelter into harm’s way, adding that Brown commissioned two outside reviews of the response aimed at enhancing public safety and security.

Long hours of hiding

Long after the sun had set, students took refuge in dark bedrooms and classrooms. The curtains were closed. The doors were barricaded with wardrobes, beds and mini-refrigerators.

“The door is locked, the windows are locked, I have balanced a metal pipe on the handle so if anyone tries to use the handle from the outside it will make a loud noise,” one student wrote.

Students reacted to every sound – footsteps in the hallways, distant sirens, helicopters in the sky. When the alerts came, the vibrations and ringtones were jarring. Some were afraid that the names of the dead would be revealed, and that they would identify someone they knew.

law enforcement moved through campus buildings, evacuating them floor by floor.

One of the students who escaped from Barros and Holley asked if anyone could text his parents to let them know he got out safely. Others said they left their phones in classrooms when they fled, unable to reach terrified loved ones. Ironically, those closest to the shooting often had the least information.

Many American students expressed feelings ranging from numbness to heartbreak.

“I just received a text from a friend I haven’t talked to in almost three years,” one student wrote. “Our last messages? I’m checking on her after the shooting in Michigan.” Many students responded saying they had similar experiences.

International students posted a message about their parents unable to sleep on the other side of the world.

“I just want a hug from my mom,” one student wrote.

Anxiety begins

As the hours passed, the students had difficulty meeting basic needs. Some described urinating in garbage cans or empty laundry detergent bottles because they were too afraid to leave their rooms. Others talked about drinking to cope.

One student wrote: “I was in the street when it happened, and suddenly I felt very afraid.” “I ran and couldn’t calm down for a while. I feel numb and tired and about to throw up.”

Another wrote: “I’m locked inside! I didn’t eat anything today! I’m so scared I don’t even know if I’m coming out of this alive or dead.”

Some students posted early in the morning, more than 10 hours into lockdown, saying they couldn’t sleep. Sidechat also documented acts of kindness, including a student going door-to-door with cups of macaroni and cheese in a dark dorm.

Information and its limitations

Students asked the same questions over and over – News? sources? – They challenged each other to verify what they saw before reposting it.

“Honestly, I would rather hear misinformation than not report the things they heard,” one student wrote.

Others pushed back, sharing a Google Doc that would grow to 28 pages where students could find the most up-to-date, verified information. Some posted copies of the police scanner or warned against relying on AI summaries of the evolving situation. Professors — who rarely post on the app — joined the broadcast, urging caution and offering reassurance.

“If you are talking about active mode, please add a source!!!” one student wrote.

But students noticed that “reliable information” often arrived too late.

Within about 30 minutes of the shooting, posts incorrectly claimed the shooter had been arrested. Reports of more gunshots – later proven false – continued throughout the night and into the next day, fueling fear and frustration. One student was asked, What are the police doing “right now”?

Responses came quickly.

“They are doing their best,” one person replied. Another added: “Be grateful.” “They are putting their lives at risk at this moment in order for us to be safe.”

The campus has changed

Students woke up Sunday on a campus they no longer recognized. It snowed all night, the first snowfall of the school year.

In post after post, students described the scene as disturbing. What would normally have been a celebration seemed like confirmation that something had changed irrevocably.

“It’s really painful to see the chips falling this morning, beautiful and tragic,” one student wrote.

Even with the lockdown lifted, many said they weren’t sure what to do — where to go, whether dining halls were open, whether it was safe to move around.

“What should I do?” Posted by a student. “I’m losing my mind.”

The students walked through the falling snow in a dazed state, heading to the blood donation centers. Others noticed flowers being placed at the campus gates and outside Paros and Holi.

Many mourned not only the two students who were killed, but also the innocence they felt was being stripped from their campus.

“I will never see the first snow of the season or think about these two,” one student wrote.

As the lockdown ended, the students returned to their dorms while the Sidechat continued filled with sadness and reflection. Many said Brown no longer felt the same way.

“Snow will always be bloody for me,” one person posted.