After the Riots: Bans and Research linkage

There’s lots I want to blog about in the aftermath of this week’s looting, but this is one of those times when a little reflection serves us better than rushing to share our ill-informed opinions with the world. Noted for my (and your) reference:

• Are we talking to ourselves on Twitter? – self-reinforcing circles are a danger of social networks…
• Taking back social streams – we need to evolve away from merely commenting on the things we agree or disagree on and actually start conversing
• 9 ways to use Twitter responsibly – it saddened me to see so many journos reacting to rumour with publicity rather than investigation – and yes, I’m looking at you Fleet Street Fox.
• We had it bad at times in Lewisham; false rumours of race wars circulated, while Lee High Road was the tranquil sight you can see above. Here’s how residents quashed the rumours.
• Now, the PM is proposing that the government gets the power to shut down social networks in times of emergency. Tory MP Louise Mensch makes the comparison with train networks.
• However, is it actually more like an emergency broadcast system?
• Or a neutral force for social organisation?
• A summary of the debate so far.

This one will run and run…