The last days and nights have been unbelievable! Young kids and youths running amock through our cities looting and smashing shops cars and buses. It is truly sickening to watch on television and listen to the reports coming in. Last night it kicked off in Manchester and Salford as well as Liverpool and Birmingham. Some of the images are shocking!
What turns young people like this into such greed and thuggery?
What part has digital technology played in this event?
Social networks like Twitter and Facebook has been used by the rioters to organise and communicate with each other. The Blackberry phone with its encripted instant messaging has also played a large part according to the media. Some of the top targets for the looters have been mobile phone shops, Curries, Argos and music stores. Many of the images seen on television show looters with mobile phone boxes, Large LCD and plasma Televisions, Guitars and Keyboards.
Social media is an amazing phenonimum, it is taking over our lives. While I am writing this I am reading messages coming in on Twitter about the current situation in the cities tonight. A million people have supported the police through twitter and others have organised clean-up campaigns through facebook and twitter.
Now some of the looters and rioters are being brought to justice through images from security cameras, television images and images and video captured by passers by on mobile phones. These are now being published on facebook, flickr and websites.
The two sides of digital technology in situations like this, love it or hate it, it is here to stay!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14471593
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