The Unsocial Network? in OD

I’m listening to the debate about the riots that took place recently and I listened to the PM’s statement and subsequent debate.

If you missed them, I’ll sum them up for you:

Police rock, but no need to review budget cuts,
Single parent families, where the single parent is a mother, bad,
Police rock and we need a review of budget cuts,
Firemen rock,
Police rock but no need to review budget cuts,
Schools need to teach respect,
Police rock and we need a review of budget cuts,
Appropriate sentances must be handed out to the rioters,
Police rock but no need to review budget cuts,
We need to investigate the possiblity of removing access to social networking sites when things like this happen,

Wait, what?

When the whole thing broke out, people were quick to blame Twitter and Facebook for enabling it to happen. Y’know, like they were quick to blame the bombing and shootings in Norway on Muslims.

And, in a case of history repeating, it turned out that the message spread using Blackberry Messenger.

Do you want to know what did start on social networking sites?

The broom army.

Who got loads of praise during the PM’s statement and debate.

This is the entire problem. I think that Douglas Adams put it best:

“I suppose earlier generations had to sit through all this huffing and puffing with the invention of television, the phone, cinema, radio, the car, the bicycle, printing, the wheel and so on, but you would think we would learn the way these things work, which is this:

1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.”

So it proved with social networking today. Admittedly, someone did bring up in the later debate that police found it useful, but nothing about how it mobilised more people to do good.

While the riots were going on, not only was a riot cleanup hashtag established but the Twitter account @Riotcleanup (who established the awesome hashtag #riotwombles). When the riots spread to other places, clean up campaign accounts for those places started immediately. These accounts not only organised help to clear things up the next day, but alerted people to companies willing to provide time and materials to help people rebuild.

Evil, evil social networking sites! They must be shut down in the future!

Even though the clean up operation is finished (hopefully for good) in London, @Riotcleanup are still going, helping organise supplies for places that have become temporary homless shelters, drop of points, etc.

How despicable! This shouldn’t be happening!

Twitter and Facebook are at the forefront of fundraising campaigns such as Something for Ashraf.

It must be stopped!

Admittedly, there were people trying to organise riots on facebook. One person from Glasgow has been arrested and the first thing I knew about it was when I was asked to report it for abuse. It was also quickly followed by a group saying no riot in Glasgow. Closer to home (for me anyway), Cleveland Police is investigating a group that was set up to organise a riot in Boro. That group has been shut down.

So there are people trying to use these sites for evil. But that’s why it social networking. It’s like society. There’s a wide variety of people. Just as we can’t simply say that it was youths are responsible, or the unemployed, you can’t condemn social networking for the actions of some users.

You want to shut down social networking sites? Good luck with that. But, they also used BBM. Get RIM to shut that down. OK. They can still text each other. So, shut down the mobile networks. Course, that’ll make it harder for people to call for help. And the rioters could still be using landlines. Then, you shut down the phone system.

See where this is going?

Yes, the role of social networking and BBM has to be investigated. But, for God’s sake, you don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Will

*I do have to point out that while I was writing this, someone did mention the role of Twitter in organising the clean up. The PM’s statement started at 11:30. This happened at about 6:15pm.