Technology and its Role in the August UK Riots

 There is no doubt technology has enriched all of our lives.

Over the last few weeks, as much of Britain was engulfed by the madness of the August UK riots, a couple of questions arose: what role did technology play and did it help fuel the riots?

The Chaos Fueled by Technology and Social Media

From my viewpoint, technology undoubtedly helped drive the chaos. On the flip side, it also brought communities back together by keeping the Nation and all of us caught up in the riots up-to-date on the latest news.

It was a great shame that the power of social media was exploited by the looters. Martin McRobb of Crown Prosecution Services explained that two men had been jailed because “their posts caused significant panic and revulsion in local communities as rumors of anticipated violence spread.”

After their hearing, Police intercepted a potential attack on Westfield shopping center and the Olympic site by using the phones of the rioters to intercept messages posted online. It was even reported the MET “considered switching off social messaging sites but did not have the power to do so, but such moves should be investigated in the future.”

The News

It seems the momentum of social media was one step ahead of the news as the events unfolded in a blink of an eye. Mobile uploads, tweets and social updates inundated all newsfeeds from the people that were out there living and breathing it as I was. The desire and ease to self-report is at our finger tips – the mobile phone has become an extension of our lives and more importantly has given us freedom of speech on the move.

Technology has broken down the barriers of traditional reporting. The influx of real-time updates became the feeding ground for reporters. They could get up-to-the-second live reports, pictures and video from a multitude of people and locations – something they were previously unable to accomplish. The BBC News channel claimed its highest audience, with a record daily 15-minute reach of 8.8 million viewers, 3.3 million of which were based in London. Many of the sources were updates from amateur mobile videos and countless references to status updates on social media sites. As the popularity of the stories increased, social media reacted and in turn increased their amateur reporting.

MSN also experienced increased engagement. Readers were able to access the latest as the story unfolded; they could comment on the news stories and share with friends via social link integration. MSN featured photo galleries of the suspect photos and had a dedicated page covering live updates on the city riots that combined all the latest tweets, Facebook posts, and blogs. With the power of technology, MSN gathered information from its readers and updated the site in real-time.

Bringing Back Community Power

As the riots began to wind down in some of the hardest-hit areas, communities formed and united. Mass clear-up operations were organised and spirits were restored. After 3 days of rioting, the top unprompted trending topics began to develop: #riotcleanup #prayforlondon and #staysafe. The devastation clean-up efforts inspired the @RiotCleanUp Twitter account, which quickly started tweeting times and locations of community clear-ups and offers of help and resources. It quickly approached 30,000 followers as celebrities helped spread its positive message.

Having lived through this crazy ordeal in the heart of London, I think technology in short played a both a negative and positive role in the riots. On one hand, it incited the violence, but it also taught us important lessons on how social media can help police prevent this needless and destructive behaviour from happening again. Without the social media that taught us so much, we would have not known what was going on or how to keep safe. I love the determination of the communities, re-building themselves from the ashes of the burning buildings. Thankfully, apart from those areas hardest hit, it seems all traces of the riots have been nearly erased and communities have reformed and are looking to the future.

Would love to hear from anyone who also found technology useful during the riots.

Joni Roberts – UK Trade Marketing