Twitter and the Riots
As people suggest closing down social media sites to stop rioters, here's what I saw on Twitter during the riots.
As the riots raged across London last night, people thought of ways to help the vulnerable people in their communities, using social media to spread the word. Calls were put out to give support to the elderly...
...and the disabled. The hashtag #disabledriothelp was set up by @BendyGirl
- People who were nervous reached out across the internet to friends, families, followers, even strangers, and received love, reassurance and virtual hugs from all over the world.
- The people I saw weren't trying to start riots on Twitter. Well, maybe some of them...
When dawn broke and the streets were littered with debris from the night's carnage, people on Twitter and Facebook set to work cleaning up London. The #riotcleanup hashtag was launched, with a website too, and a new wave of gangs took to the streets - gangs of volunteers with brooms and binbags taking back their communities.
- Even the wombles came out!
