A simple scroll on social media platform, TikTok, reveals hundreds of videos from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It’s the first time we, as a society, have ever been able to access so much media from battle as it's happening.

“We want to recognize that there is a potentially positive role for social media to play in all of this, in both supporting Ukraine and helping its people get out of harm's way," said Jim Wertz, Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Social Sciences at Edinboro University.

Wertz says it's too soon to tell what kind of impact social media may play in this conflict, but so far it's given people more opportunities than ever to stay plugged into the war in real-time.

“People have more options than ever before to stay connected to the information. Whether or not people avail themselves to all of the options that are available or make the right choices about the options they have in front of them is a big question that all media researchers have in front of them," said Wertz.

The last time we saw social media play any kind of role in international conflict was the Arab Spring in 2010. Then, Twitter was the most prevalent social media platform. Some governments cut off their country’s access to the social media site and the internet as a whole.

While we have more access to information and first-hand accounts than ever, Wertz says social media plays an even more important role to people with Ukrainian connections.

“This is one way that folks both inside the Ukraine and outside the Ukraine with family members inside are utilizing social media and really avenue they can to stay connected at this time,” said Wertz.