#2- Breaking news: Social Media Over 24 hours- Daniel Johnston

  Yesterday around midday social media began to light up with messages about singer Daniel Johnston. Johnston is famous for songs such as "True Love Will Find You in The End" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7lyfYzIw8) and his signature art style which he often used to illustrate his own album covers. His name began being mentioned fondly in posts by celebrities which, sadly, often times means something bad has happened .The heart breaking news first officially came out over news sites out of his adopted state of Texas. An underappreciated icon had taken his last breathe, he had died of a heart attack at age 58. Big news pages stayed virtually empty at first on social media so fans took it upon their selves to begin honoring a true icon.

 Celebrities and fans of all ages began to sing their praise a mere hour after the news broke. Jonah Hill left a heartfelt message at the bottom of his post thanking Johnston for sharing his struggles with mental health in the form of  music and getting many people through tough times. Even younger stars like Finn Wolfhard made posts about the late great musician. Even the brand Supreme's New York Branch made a post stating that "Some things last a lifetime", referring to his impact on music and the lives of many. Johnston reached many with his music, it always seemed to find people at the right time in their lives. Seeing more and more "Rest in Peace" posts emerge on my feed as the hours ticked by made it all too real for me. In reality there isn't much in the ways of breaking news when someone passes away after the initial shock but I believe its important how this news comes to certain people. In situations like this I find it interesting which publications and people receive the news first. For example the New York times published a story on Johnston's death nearly a day ago whereas less main stream sites like The Takeout just managed to publish theirs 35 minutes ago. Time moves differently on social media most of the tributes I saw were posted within 30 minutes of each other meaning the news likely spread faster to more diverse areas because of celebrity followings.

Artists seem to have a way of banding together when someone dies. On Twitter musicians like Beck and Clario honored Daniel Johnston memory. Twitter was absolutely flooded with kind words about him ( https://twitter.com/search?q=daniel%20johnston&src=typeahead_click). Seeing two artists who very clearly have taken inspiration from Johnston delivering the news of his passing softens the blow. I think back to the photo of Kurt Cobain wearing one of Johnston's art works on a t-shirt and I find it odd to think how artists like this often leave intertwined legacies in strange ways. After all, it was Kurt's public support that helped Johnston's career catch fire and in the end Daniel ended up outliving him.
It's a situation where the ones who knew him and his work don't want us to be sad that he's gone but to celebrate his memory instead. Johnston was always battling mental illness but that never changed his soft childlike heart. He taught us that being different isn't a bad thing. He paved the way for many soft spoken, introspective, low-fi artists. In the spirit of what he stood for I think it's only right that these artists keep this kind of music alive and thriving. The only question we're left wondering is did true love ever find him in the end?