We will probably never understand the Boston Marathon bomber’s motivation. The person or group responsible for the horrific bombings that killed three people and injured over 150 more will eventually be caught and will be asked the inevitable question: Why? Was it a political act? Was it a protest? Or was it the work of a pure sociopath? What would drive someone to murder strangers in cold blood at one of America’s most treasured public events? How far does the human mind have to be pushed to commit such acts of atrocity? We may never be able to comprehend the evil inherent in mass killings like the Boston Marathon bombings and the Newtown, Conn. shooting. However, the way we react to these events says a lot about the nature and character of our society.

Modern media forces us to experience tragedy on a much deeper and more thorough level today than ever before. Before internet journalism, 24/7 news coverage and social media, Americans would hear about a tragedy through a newspaper or television headline the morning after it happened. People could still empathize with the victims of a tragedy, but it was harder to form an emotional connection to something you read about in a newspaper—no matter how tragic the headline, it was still just a small part of your day.

Today, however, we are confronted with the realities of disaster much quicker and more thoroughly. The New York Times and ESPN sent out iPhone App notifications within minutes of the bombings on Monday, and coverage continued throughout the day. Instead of a few black-and-white photos, we saw gruesome full-color videos played on loop on every news network. Facebook and Twitter were swamped with re-postings about the event and messages of support. Around-the-clock news coverage and social media made the Boston Marathon bombings the single most dominant topic of conversation throughout the day. This allowed us to develop a much deeper emotional connection with the tragedy—we felt the pain of Martin Richard’s (the eight-year-old boy killed in the bombings) family more acutely than would have been possible 10 years ago. The media blitz that surrounds tragedies these days could make it easy to lose faith in humanity and compassion. We are so saturated with images of pain and suffering that it is tempting to ask, “What has this world come to?”

However, I believe the most powerful message we can take from expanded media coverage of tragedies is not about the depths of human cruelty but about the power of human compassion. In the aftermath of the bombings, a video clip from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” absolutely exploded across Facebook and Twitter. The clip features Fred Rogers telling kids that when bad things happen on the news, always “look for the helpers”—the people rushing to help others in the wake of a disaster. This message seems to have resonated particularly strongly in the national news the last few days—some of the most prevalent images have been of people helping the wounded. Pictures of all types of people, from police officers to medics to former Patriots’ lineman Joe Andruzzi to peace activist Carlos Arredondo, helping injured runners and bystanders have been shown and re-shown on national news. Social media has been swamped with statuses about praying for and supporting the victims. Extensive media coverage has intensified our emotional responses to tragedy—but the intensity extends beyond feelings of grief and despair. Social media has also given us a moving portrait of human compassion over the last few days.

It would be just as easy to write off the online support for the victims of the Boston bombings as internet “slacktivism” as it would be to write off the media images of rescue workers as pandering to human interest stories. However, I think doing so would be selling ourselves short as a society. Media coverage of the Boston bombings has made us uncomfortably aware of man’s capacity for evil and violence. But to look at this and lose hope in the power of human compassion would be completely wrong. Because for every person injured on Monday morning, there are literally millions of people in this country hoping and praying for them to get better. If there’s one thing social media has done for us, it’s proven to us that Mr. Rogers was right—no matter what kind of atrocities mankind sinks to, the overwhelming majority of us are still compassionate people.