Social media a sexy way to cover London Riots, but not to blame

Week Two discussion post, Full Sail University: Social Media’s role in the London Riots

Social media was blamed for the quick spreading nature of the London Riots last year but there is evidence that not only seems to dispel that theory, but shows that social media was actually beneficial in the prosecution of rioters and the cleanup efforts that followed.

First, groups of people have always used technology in an effort to mobilize, regardless of their intentions. Riots have developed long before the invention of social media and a tweet never broke a window or overturned a car. Blaming social media was a sexy way for journalists to cover a story, and it deserved thought, but social media was not to blame for the riots. I do believe it was a tool used in its formation but the argument that shutting down social media as a way to “fight back” would not have been an appropriate response, at least not any more than shutting down the electric grid would have been.

Torin Douglas, media correspondent for the BBC, wrote last year that police were “prepared for trouble” after observing calls for violence and rioting on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In fact, Douglas writes that police used Twitter in responding to the riots.

Social media also played a part in the cleanup effort following the riots, according to Erica Swallow. “While rioters took to the underground paths of BlackBerry Messenger to organize, the highly spreadable mediums of Twitter and Facebook have shown to be the perfect platforms for mobilizing cleanup organizers and followers in the early aftermath of the rioting,” she wrote. There was even a Twitter account created (@RiotCleanup) that gained over 50,000 followers in the first day. Swallow also writes that a Tumblr page was created called “Catch a Looter” that served as a place for observers to post photos of rioters in action in an effort to assist police.

Adi Gaskell also highlighted a study that showed social media was used for a force of good – not evil – during the London Riots.

“The study, conducted by the Joint Information Systems Committee, concluded that Twitter was not used to encourage and co-ordinate rioting and looting, but instead played a major part in the post-event cleanup,” Gaskell wrote. The study found no evidence that Twitter was used to mobilize rioters and was actually helpful in the cleanup efforts. “The findings chime with the panel at the Westminster eForum on eCrime, which unanimously agreed that a social media blackout would infringe on freedom of expression and would ignore the positive aspects of social networks,” Gaskell added.

Gill Corkindale, a former editor of the Financial Times and a London-based writer, argues that social media was partly to blame for the riots, particularly the use of BlackBerry messenger which allowed rioters to send encrypted messages that were then posted to Facebook and Twitter. However, Corkindale also points out that while social media was used as a tool in the riots, police may have failed to preemptively prepare for such an event that was years in the marking.

“The Metropolitan Police has admitted that they need to learn lessons from the way social media was used to organize the greed and criminality seen during the riots,” she writes. “But according to David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, it was an accident waiting to happen: ‘For years we’ve been aware of gangs and football hooligans have been using technology to get together and fight. I think the police have been quite slow to respond to this.’”

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