The power — and the impotence — of social media

United Airlines’ travails this week are certainly a sign of the power of social media. But other news shows the stark limit of that power: Friday was the third anniversary of the horror that launched #BringBackOurGirls, but the girls still aren’t back.

In April 2014, Boko Haram terrorists abducted 276 Nigerian schoolgirls from the village of Chibok. Within the month, Facebook, Instagram, etc., saw more than 1 million uses of the hashtag, including by then-First Lady Michelle Obama.

But the global outrage did little good: 195 of the girls remain captive, and most of those now free escaped on their own.

The furor in Nigeria ousted the country’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, in the next election. But his successor, Muhammadu Buhari, has had no better luck: Boko Haram has continued to abduct women and girls and raze entire villages.

Its leader, Abubakar Shekau, even gleefully mocked the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. After all, terrorism is all about publicity — it’s the best way to spread fear.

All the videos, memes and jokes mattered to United because it needs your approval. But terrorists revel in being reviled: You have to fight them the old-fashioned way. With force.

[“Source-nypost”]