The role of social media in the riots

Anyone living in the UK at the moment can’t have failed to read about, watch or be affected by the rioting and looting that unfortunately spread to a number of cities following the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by the Police in London.

As the cleanup continues and the first convictions roll out of our magistrate courts, users of Twitter will note that #riotcleanup (a community response to the devastation) and #manchester riots (a hashtag for the Manchester riots) are still trending on Twitter.

So, what role has social media played during the riots?

1. Organisation for the looters

The Guardian reported on Tuesday 9^th August that the most up-to-the-minute rallying in the London riots took place not on Twitter or Facebook "but on a more covert social network: BlackBerry Messenger". BlackBerry devices are the most popular smartphone among the UK’s young people, used by more than a 3^rd of teenagers according to Ofcom, the media regulator. This free text service was also cited by bloggers and Twitter users as one way that looters in Enfield organised themselves.

2. Fanning the rumour mill

After the London riots started on Saturday 6^th, media reporting on the Sunday announced the spread of rioting to other cities. Users of Twitter started reporting claims of trouble in the city centre, leading to a localised trending of hashtags such as #manchesterriots and #incidents. With social media being both a reporting channel and a source of news, the BBC reported unrest in Manchester - with suggestions of cars and property being vandalised - but didn’t support this with pictorial or video evidence.

In fact, we saw this closer to home as later in the week, one of my Marketecture colleagues suggested a “counter-riot” #riotconga – a joyful response to show that the people of Manchester deplore the rioting:

"There’s no way anyone can riot in the face of a massive conga!"

However, this ironic tweet wasn’t for a real event and seeing it explode across Twitter, he tweeted a retraction in case it trended and ended up causing problems. Within 1 day, the hashtag had been used 162 times.

3. Calming the rumour mill

Keen users of social media, the response from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was quick and decisive, to try and prevent the self-fulfilling prophecy of fire following non-existent smoke:

GMP then tackled the media directly:

4. Reporting

As the situation worsened in Manchester and other cities, amongst the trouble makers were a number of first-time reporters. Appalled at the events taking place, many users of Twitter took to the streets capturing offenders in the act, posting the images online and sending them to the Police forces concerned.

In addition, with the trouble in Salford starting during office hours, Twitter became a good source of information for those looking to negotiate their way home without becoming part of the unrest.

Marketecture’s local Police force, GMP, were also quick to point Twitter followers to updates on traffic information whilst still continuing to dampen the flames:

5. Cleanup

Facebook and Twitter were then used to mobilise volunteers to help clean up the damage caused across London from looting, arson and violence.

The movement, hashtagged #riotcleanup, was started by Dan Thompson, who runs a social initiative aimed at encouraging people to use empty shops and open spaces. By 10am Monday 8th, the tag was the top trending topic in the UK, and the second worldwide. As the riots spread to other cities, the hashtag and supporting website (http://www.riotcleanup.co.uk/) became a focal point for communities throughout the UK to reclaim the streets.

5. Crime and punishment

With the dust settling, Police forces and the courts have began the process of bringing those responsible for the looting and violence to justice.

Posting successful convictions and number of arrests on Twitter has also be joined by links to Flickr profiles with wanted suspects.

So, in this time of ever-on communication channels, have social media platforms been a force of good or bad in this case?

Probably both - whilst they have undeniably been used to fan the flames or to organise looting, they have also provided the Police with an unprecedented reach to calm the situation, communicate what is happening and wage an online game of chess with those responsible for orchestrating the trouble. Furthermore, it has given communities an ability to mobilise and unite in response to widespread attack.

The interesting question is what will happen now - will the balanced viewpoint above be reflected or will the Government call for censorship of social media as a knee-jerk reaction to the riots?

Watch (or tweet) this space....