Social Media &the London Riots

Social media have changed the way we do many things, including how we consume “news and information.” Increasingly over the last decade, social media sites have been not just in the news, but a part of it. Many of the protestors in the “Arab Spring” organized via Facebook, and survivors and witnesses of natural disasters in Japan and domestic terrorism in Norway utilized social media to spread the word about events as they unfolded. With this kind of recent history, it was no surprise to hear that social media played a big role in the recent riots in London (and elsewhere in the UK). In particular, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger have been cited as tools used by some of the youth to incite riots.

Blackberry Messenger, a service that only works on Blackberry devices, is much more popular in the UK than in the US. But the ability of social media to make organizing activity easier than ever, may also make it easier for officials to unravel the details. UK police officials are considering their options in asking RIM, the makers of Blackberry, to share server information that may help them track down the culprits.