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Good Society > Published by Daniel Elton, August 10th 2011 at 10:23 am

How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice

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It is now widely understood that the rioting – that caused by nihilistic looting as well as that by organised criminal gangs – was in part driven by communications using social networking services such as Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

It has been clear for months that social media escalate ‘spontaneous’ public events for good or for ill – from the protests in the Arab capitals to the actions of UK Uncut, public pressure to shut the News of The World to the riots and the volunteer clean-up efforts.

We do not need to give a moral evaluation to the events on that list to see that there is a pattern here: Social media enables events to snowball and build to levels which would have previously been impossible. And while it can be used for tremendous good, it may have only been a matter of time until it was used for more sinister ends.

Obviously the ultimate cause of the riots is the irresponsibility and the thuggery of the perpetrators. But ignoring the social media aspect of this will allow things to continue to run out of control.

There are questions here for programmers and the police. For the programmers, there are concerns about BBM in particular, for which general public access is more difficult as participation requires a PIN number, and for which tracing messages is difficult.

Police should be in direct talks with the developers Research in Motion on how to ensure that the law enforcement authorities have access to it, and can trace those sending messages more easily.

The questions for the police surround whether they are monitoring social networking sites as much and as effectively as they could and whether they are they sharing best practice across the country and the world to ensure that they are as effective as possible.

The police do have an advantage here. The structure of social media pulls users towards being less anonymous, not more – it should make it easier to identify those planning, and who have carried out, criminal acts.

 Technology moves very fast, and it is not surprising that the authorities may be taking time to adjust. But they have to give the time and thought to engage with social media – otherwise we will all pay the cost.

  • http://twitter.com/socialnetbible/status/101225617294495744 SocialNetBible

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/r40cCU

  • http://twitter.com/brummytaff/status/101226266539200512 bob woods

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: http://bit.ly/nuean0 : writes @danielelton #riots

  • http://twitter.com/ericmaci/status/101228148657627137 Eric MacInnes

    #socialmedia sobering thoughts about sinister use of sm but there's an upside http://bit.ly/qWo8Xl

  • http://twitter.com/altgovuk/status/101228509988528129 AltGovUK

    RT @leftfootfwd: How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: http://bit.ly/nuean0 : writes @danielelton #riots

  • http://twitter.com/andra_mititelu/status/101229449311297536 Andra Mititelu

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: http://bit.ly/nuean0 : writes @danielelton #riots

  • http://twitter.com/noreenwelch/status/101230563372974080 Noreen Welch

    It is now widely understood that the rioting – that caused by nihilistic looting as well as that by organised… http://fb.me/Oqy24MjI

  • http://twitter.com/puppiness/status/101234863255986176 Kelly Cartwright

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/qQCrpW

  • http://twitter.com/teamworker08/status/101237513561190400 Adrienne Franklin

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/nmoSGJ

  • http://twitter.com/skarritt/status/101237517709357057 Kevin Lane Skarritt

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://flahk.com/qRKqTU #socialnetworking

  • http://twitter.com/befcreative/status/101237657056722945 Big Eyed Fish

    #social #media #news How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – Left Foot Forward http://ow.ly/1eb5TU

  • http://twitter.com/360persona/status/101245094656610304 Louie Conceicao

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/q0NGtS

  • http://twitter.com/twinsmoneytips/status/101245097932365824 Sean&Vaun Coleman

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/qegytg

  • http://twitter.com/aaronbransomnme/status/101245103909249024 Aaron Bernard Ransom

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/qUAYna

  • http://twitter.com/videoturf/status/101245110888574976 Video Turf

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/q9S5LX

  • http://twitter.com/chrisdockery/status/101245112247517185 Chris Dockery

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/nl6TLb

  • http://twitter.com/parez230376/status/101245111807127552 muhammad arief s.

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/oMyE6w

  • http://twitter.com/bwet4ever/status/101245125535072256 Bryan Wong YH

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/oZgJRl

  • http://twitter.com/stefigno/status/101245172410626048 Stefano

    #social #media #news How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – Left Foot Forward http://ow.ly/1eb5TU

  • http://twitter.com/funrichguy/status/101246385839538176 Robert Moore

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that th… http://tinyurl.com/3c7zkpo

  • http://twitter.com/enytheng/status/101248990351343616 Enytheng

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/rhKNfB

  • http://nwkka.com nev palmer

    Perhaps you should also figure in the outrage expressed on social media. My fb has seen nothing but condemnation in one continuous stream from practically everyone I know and looking at their pages, the same.

  • http://twitter.com/cyclonedotcom/status/101256193963601921 Cy-Clone.com

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/oFD3Wd

  • http://twitter.com/epconlinecash/status/101258545231699968 EasyPCOnline

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/q2zjj6

  • http://twitter.com/strictly_social/status/101261529692909568 Strictly Social

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – http://ow.ly/5ZzYI

  • http://twitter.com/stusocial/status/101261559233380352 Stuart Fairbairns

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – http://ow.ly/5ZzZ5

  • http://twitter.com/socialmedia_kid/status/101262661714579456 Stacy Floy

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/nvKlpp

  • http://twitter.com/sociallisten/status/101263375669006336 SocialListening

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – Left Foot Forward http://goo.gl/fb/F41NW

  • http://twitter.com/strictly_social/status/101264142681374721 Strictly Social

    #LondonRiots How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – http://ow.ly/5ZBJh

  • http://twitter.com/ravinar/status/101264393471406081 ravinar

    #LondonRiots How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – http://ow.ly/5ZBJh

  • http://twitter.com/chrisdockery/status/101269460006080512 Chris Dockery

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to …: It is now widely understood that the rioting … http://bit.ly/qA945M

  • http://twitter.com/100kin2years/status/101269466154938369 Randy Thompson

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to … http://bit.ly/ngVWAH

  • http://twitter.com/videoturf/status/101269468830908416 Video Turf

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to … http://bit.ly/qokvpy

  • http://twitter.com/twinsmoneytips/status/101269518973800448 Sean&Vaun Coleman

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to … http://bit.ly/nyUSRX

  • Robert

    The same problem we had when jungle drums people reacted to them as well, of course nobody had a phone in the old days, hey John get the lads meet you in the pub, pass it on. How the hell did you think we had flying pickets in the 1970′s no email just a phone and thousands of us turned up

  • http://twitter.com/enytheng/status/101272583344881666 Enytheng

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to …: It is now widely understood that the rioting … http://bit.ly/nWii53

  • http://twitter.com/teamworker08/status/101273321001336832 Adrienne Franklin

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to …: It is now widely understood that the rioting … http://bit.ly/obtOsd

  • http://twitter.com/nishmaorg/status/101281351713570816 Nishma

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://bit.ly/o5FUAJ #ukriots

  • http://twitter.com/sarahabsolom/status/101281492566671360 Sarah Absolom

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/ngWJMs

  • http://twitter.com/ka1610/status/101282295142551552 Karine Paparo

    RT @leftfootfwd: How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://t.co/NpUMqUp

  • http://eezeer.com Andre

    I’d just like to point out that these youths are clearly not impoverished! Never saw a poor guy with a Blackberry before… They’re just low class, opportunist looters.

    Great post though, thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/socialnetbible/status/101284496128737280 SocialNetBible

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to …: It is now widely understood that the rioting … http://bit.ly/pnKi5k

  • http://twitter.com/sociallisten/status/101286486061760513 SocialListening

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice – Left Foot Forward http://bit.ly/nZmiw9

  • http://twitter.com/joshrosenburg/status/101311956681637889 Josh Rosenburg

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/ngWJMs

  • http://twitter.com/nasseralharthy/status/101311957235286017 Nasser Al Harthy

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/ngWJMs

  • http://twitter.com/dalewhitehead/status/101311957042339840 Dale Whitehead

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice: It is now widely understood that the riot… http://bit.ly/ngWJMs

  • http://twitter.com/cyclonedotcom/status/101378969059860480 Cy-Clone.com

    How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to … http://bit.ly/pxoCWV

  • http://twitter.com/modditydodds/status/101481844591165441 Knut Cayce

    Mobile telephones a two edged sword http://t.co/Zjdp54f Tracking the #Blackberry #bandits

  • http://twitter.com/jonathanlea/status/101946625274028032 Jonathan Lea

    RT @leftfootfwd: How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice http://t.co/eAGDO4y