London Riots Bring Dark Side of Social Media into Focus

COMMENTARY | All the technology that creeps into our daily lives also has a dark side. Allowing hundreds, thousands, even millions of people to communicate with each other at the press of a few buttons clearly has many benefits, but as authorities in London have discovered it can be something of a major hurdle when it comes to crowd control. London police officers and other authorities were quick to blame social media micro-blogging site Twitter for allowing looters and rioters to organize quickly. Of course, technology always has had a dark side.

Information is now unfolding that while Twitter may have played a role in the organization of looting, Blackberry Messenger, or BBM, may have played a key role in the riots and looting because it can be untraceable. That level of secrecy, which Twitter and Facebook do not provide, may have allowed users to communicate riot and looting locations. The belief that BBM is being used as a tool for criminals is so severe that some London officials want the service shutdown.

In addition, some looters might be turning to the Internet to cash in on their activities. At least one iPhone sale has been removed from Craigslist, plus eBay has issued a statement supporting London police that states the company will work with "authorities to identify and remove any listings which are linked to criminal activity."

So while social networking and mass communication have allowed families and friends to stay in touch over long or short distances, that same technology also has the potential to be misused. While the services are not to blame, they also must shoulder some of the burden associated with their business models. Providing a platform where fuel can be added to a fire at any moment in time will always result in some hotspots, just as London authorities have found out.

Of course, social media was also being used for other reasons during the riots. Twitter was a valuable service for residents to stay up-to-date on the riots, and even YouTube provided some interesting video coverage of the event. After all, the platform is just a tool, it is the user that creates and decides the experience.

The dark side of technology usually keeps to science fiction movies about evil robots or other fantastic elements; however, subtle uses like the power of one voice can instigate and inspire just as easily as those futuristic stories. The future has a strange way of coming true, and even tech created for good can be altered to be used in a different way.