Tweet in the name of the law – social network training for police is better late than never

A few weeks ago a detective knocked on my door.  They thought a neighbour had been badly attacked on a street late at night but couldn’t identify him.

He was in a coma, his family abroad and his wallet gone – they had a clue he lived next door but had no pictures with which to identify him and no way to contact his next of kin.

Within minutes of logging on to his Facebook page another woman in his block of flats had established contact with the family and provided a library of photographs the detective could use. Except, despite our encouragement and the exceptional circumstances, he wouldn’t.

Raising his eyebrows, as if to say ‘silly old me’ he told us that he wasn’t very good with computers and had never really ‘got round to’ Facebook. So, he smiled hopelessly, if it was all alright with us, he would wait for the girlfriend to arrive at Gatwick.

My neighbour and I were astounded. There was a man was lying in a hospital bed unconscious, a family half way around the world worried sick and no proof positive of his identity.

And on a computer in the next room was a library of photos showing him from every possible angle, a list of contacts at our fingertips and even, conceivably, information about his last movements.

As a journalist and regular facebook and twitter user all I know the power these social networks can provide. It just seemed like such a waste.

So it as a relief that it has been announced that police officers will finally receive training on social networking sites.

Considering Facebook launched in Februrary 2004 (Twitter in 2006) it is outrageous this training has taken over six-year become part of standard training procedure.

As a journalist, feigning ignorance wouldn’t get you very far with your news editor if a rival scooped you with a story from a social network – and why should this be any different in other professions that rely on information?

Officers will now be taught about evidence-gathering on these sites as part of detectives training at the National Policing Improvement Agency. 3,500 detectives pass through the agency’s training courses each year so this is a good start, but in all likelihood my polite but social-network-ly inept detective is likely remain just as bemused as ever.

Do real people use Twitter?

© Twitter

Twitter is a social network dominated by people with something to promote. Whether they are journalists – using the network to crowd source content and promote themselves – or politicians – attempting to engage with ‘the public’ – Twitter is in danger of being deviod of ‘real’ people communicating on it.

To find out whether Twitter is a tool used by the masses and not just the mass media, we took to the streets of Islington, north London, to find out what people thought about the social tool and the media’s growing fascination with it.

Hugo, 35, of the Moro restaurant on Exmouth Market, said he found social networking sites such as Facebook “scary”, though did consider Twitter as a useful tool for professionals:

http://abhn841.portfolios.cutlines.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hugo.mp3

Moya Sarner, 23, a journalism student at City University said she thought that Twitter was mostly used by journalists and politicians, though she did use it:

http://abhn841.portfolios.cutlines.org/wp-content/audio/moya.mp3

Mandy, 20, a student said she used Twitter to ‘stalk’ celebrities and that the tool was good for people in positions of importance:

http://abhn841.portfolios.cutlines.org/wp-content/audio/mandy.mp3

Debbie Arno, 48, a nursery nurse said her children used Twitter and Facebook, though she personally thinks the “whole world has gone crazy” and that life is not private anymore :
http://abhn841.portfolios.cutlines.org/wp-content/audio/debby.mp3

By Richard Partington and Georgia Graham

Facebook-politics is no substitute for a good local paper

Standing in the baking sun on a north London High Street for six hours might not sound like your idea of cutting edge election coverage, but it was one of the most well received pieces of journalism that I have witnessed in this campaign.

Armed with little more than a bottle of water, some hastily purchased sun cream and a stack of red, yellow, blue and green pieces of paper we were carrying out an election poll for the seat of Hornsey and Wood Green.

Hampstead and Highgate Express

After minutes we realised that we weren’t going to have to fight hard to encourage local voters to make their voices heard. These were the normal people on the street out buying their weekly shop or popping into the post office. They hadn’t joined a facebook group to show their disdain for Gordon Brown or commented on a spoof Tory Youtube video but we quicky got the distinct feeling they would have done if they were a little more Facebook savvy.

There was frustration on the streets which led to people coming up to our stall uninvited, asking questions and writing mini-essays explaining the causes of their alienation.

One man who told me how he had fought and been injured in WW2, how he had watch his commander, an old man at 26 die 10 days before the end of the war. He is 83 now and he was going to spoil his ballot. Why? A lifelong labour voter he feels betrayed on a national scale and alienated on a local level. The worst offence, he said was the letter he received on his 80th birthday telling him his pension was to be increased. By 25p a week.

Another woman told us that national politics held no sway over her anymore. They, she said, were career politicians interested in lining their politics and hiding their policies. She was voting simply on what her local candidates had to offer. Lynne Featherstone, the incumbent Lib Dem MP, is well regarded here, and this lady was no exception to this opinion.

She has been a good candidate fighting hard for local issues and bringing them to national attention when necessary. An expenses ‘saint’ she also held a lot of sway in terms of morality. The fact that she is the daughter of a millionaire and not exactly poorly off herself was never mentioned – it seems that there is not so much anger at people being over-paid or over-privilege but simply about the lack of honesty over that payment.

After four hours we had amassed almost 200 votes just from passersby. The ‘ballots’ were covered with scrawls of ‘change needed’ and ‘time for change’ suggested the locals were not immune from the national message being thrust down their throats. But hearteningly there were also comments that showed a real interest in national and local policies and in how these party’s would address their personal needs.

Four first time voters gave me a rush of pride in our long tradition of youthful social conscience. They said that they could see how Labour had made mistakes but expressed a belief that they couldn’t vote any other way than red. They believed in equality and in continued investment in the National Health Service, in education and in those struggling out of poverty. They said they knew that Conservatives would not provide this, no matter how friendly Cameron appeared to be.

That long sunny wait on a busy pavement showed me how important the local paper can be for empowering local voters. We could sense the gratitude people felt at the paper giving them a voice on local issues. Their willingness to speak out highlighted that, despite the shift towards US presidential politics, it was the response of their local MP to their struggles that really mattered in the long term. But these people do not want their worries exploited by the leaders as anecdotes for  ping-pong TV rallies. The voters want to be listened to by their local candidates and  for their local papers to make them heard.

Indeed the local parties would do well to read through our final cardboard box of ‘votes.’ It would tell them more about the state of mind of their constituents than any YouGov poll for utterly unbiased Sky News ever will.

UPDATE – I now work for Ham&High as a reporter but when I wrote this I was a lowly work experience with no renumeration. Flattery, it seems, will get you anywhere!

Tweet or get off the pot

Social media is going to be mandatory at the BBC. Peter Horrocks new director of BBC Global News told the Guardian: “This isn’t just a kind of fad… I’m afraid you’re not doing your job if you can’t do those things. It’s not discretionary”

And he’s right of course. Social media tools are whimsical self congratulatory models no more – if indeed they ever were. They are the tools that most journalists should be using for their trade. Personally, I could not have survived my recent weeks of regional work experience without them. They meant I could turn up in Edinburgh, Bristol or somewhat less alien Highgate and Hampstead and still provide an insight into local issues  – not to mention an entire social network of local contacts just an @ sign away.

image: Matt Hamm

At the Edinburgh Evening News they gave me a page three story on my first day, about renewable Christmas trees. In Bristol at the Evening Post Facebook came to my rescue with a comment thread of people discussing the best place to source a sledge after stocks had diminished due to extended West Country snow.

At the Ham and High twitterers came up tops again with probably my best spot – a fire was happening there and then in Highgate, and I got there in time to snap the fire engines as they extinguished the last of the flames.

And still such draconian implementation of social media worries me. Often the immediacy of the breaking news story on twitter is fantastic and as close to the horses mouth a modern journalist is likely to get, but the wonderful world of twitter also misses a hell of a lot.

I noticed this particularly while at the Bristol Evening Post. It was snowing heavily outside and it seemed the twitterverse could think of nothing else. Every post mentioning Bristol or from a person based in the Bristol area contained the white stuff, and very little else. The real stories that week came from in depth journalism on drinking statistics, court reporting and Freedom of Information act requests. The pages were peppered with snowmen and sledges sure, but the newsroom would have been doing the city a disservice if they had not had their traditional news values and reporting to fall back on

Horrocks continued: ‘If you don’t like it, if you think that level of change or that different way of working isn’t right for me, then go and do something else, because it’s going to happen. You’re not going to be able to stop it.’

It’s important to keep refreshing that blue bird, hoping for a scoop to fall into your lap, but reporters who are skeptical of the new social media deserve to have a voice too. If they provide innovative and relevant stories that haven’t already graced an RSS feed then more the better. Horrocks’ my way or the highway approach may be a fresh approach for the BBC but it will be a dangerous day if every social media skeptic leaves to ‘do something else.’ Newspapers and news organizations would likely lose a lot of older talent that no twitter search or facebook group will be able to replace.

What's the secret? Be an entrepreneur

A new website is launching this weekend that aims to provide Londoners with a searchable platform where they can find hidden hot spots in the capital. Secret London is made up of recommendations by fellow city dwellers – via facebook.

It all started just three weeks ago as a facebook group. Launched by recent Bristol University graduate (and I must admit, my friend) Tiffany Philippou as part of the first round of Advertising company Saatchi and Saatchi’s summer internship – which is being offered exclusively through a group hosted on the social networking site. Graduates were asked to make their own group with a popular enough hook to ensure it went ‘viral’ reaching an audience much wider than their immediate circle of facebook friends.

The Secret London group exceeded expectations with over 190,000 members in 3 weeks and within weeks Philippou, with help from another internet start up, is moving the group to a website of it’s own – with searchable categories and a community based recommendation system. The group has already spawned copycats in cities over the UK so expansion will no doubt be fast on the horizon. There’s now a holding page and Twitter account (@secret_london).

She told Rag Doll: ‘What I love about secret london is that people keep on returning to recommend places and ask questions. It has developed a strong community spirit and that is why this website is happening. This weekend a team of volunteers are gathering to build the website and it’s just amazing how London is coming together to make this happen.’

Secret London now has over 190,000 members

A new website will be launched this weekend to give Londoners a searchable platform to explore the hidden spots of the capital that their fellow city dwellers recommend.

It all started just three weeks ago as a facebook group launched by recent Bristol University graduate (and I must admit, my friend) Tiffany Phillipou as part of the first round of Advertising company Saatchi and Saatchi’s summer internship which is being offered exclusively through a group and set of tasks hosted on the social networking site. Graduates were asked to make a group with a popular enough hook to ensure it went ‘viral’ and reached an audience much wider than your immediate circle of facebook friends.

The group exceeded expectations with over 190,000 members in 3 weeks and within weeks Phillipou has secured funding to move the idea from a group to an independent website with searchable categories and a community based recommendation system. The group has already spawned copycats in cities over the UK so expansion will no doubt be fast on the horizon. There’s now a holding page and Twitter account (@secret_london).

The group, as it stands, is more than just a list of off-the-beaten track London locations, it is a huge community of Londoners ready to answer questions, make recommendations and provide photos and links to an eclectic mix of stuff around the capital. The site, innovative because it taps into the community vibe of facebook while understanding the need for well curated, hyperlocal information, may struggle in keeping up the continually evolving and personal nature that had made it so popular.

But bridging that gap is the next step for social media. Community suggestions through social networks like facebook and twitter or the news and views from bloggers are a valuable content resource but the curation of that resource, without losing its collective vibe, is a challenge pioneering real-time websites need to crack.

Time Out, long established arbitrator of London’s minefield of listings, is complied by a traditional, centralized editorial team. But increasingly people don’t want an editor to tell them where to go or what to see, they the advice of a resident or a special a friend or an acquaintance. Traditional travel guide should be shaking in their boots, or at least re-evaluating their editorial model.

Extricating yourself from the buzz of online activity and establishing your own personal, viable brand before you are even considered for a job in the creative industries.

Being an entrepreneur is increasingly a prerequisite rather than a career choice for young, ambitious and creative graduates. And in a world where graduate vacancies fell by 6.7 per cent in 2008 and a further 17.8 per cent in 2009 jobs are at a premium. Falling back on personal inventiveness is a

In the creative industries the recession is the least of their worries. In many cases the business model of the last 150 years – content – advertising – money – content is failing and will soon likely be gone forever. Young graduates hoping to put their talent into newspapers, television or publishing you’re probably not going to get a job, so being an entrepreneur isn’t a choice, its necessity.

The group, as it stands, is more than just a list of off-the-beaten track London locations, it is a huge community of Londoners ready to answer questions, make recommendations and provide photos and links to an eclectic mix of stuff around the capital.

The site although innovative because it taps into the community vibe of facebook while understanding the need for well curated, hyperlocal information, may struggle in keeping up the continually evolving and personal nature that had made it so popular.

But bridging that gap is the next step for social media. Community suggestions through social networks like facebook and twitter or the news and views from bloggers are a valuable content resource but the curation of that resource, without losing its collective vibe, is a challenge pioneering real-time websites need to crack.

Time Out, long established arbitrator of London’s minefield of listings, is complied by a traditional, centralized editorial team. But increasingly people don’t want an editor to tell them where to go or what to see. They want the advice of a resident or a specialist, a friend or an acquaintance. Travel guides should be shaking in their boots, or at the very least re-evaluating their editorial model.

Next stop will have got to be a killer app so smartphone users can locate themselves within the london community and get local advice on the go. Companies like Qype and Yelp have opened up this market but are unlikely to be able to compete with the huge content gleaned from a 200,000 strong facebook community nor the real-time recommendations that SecretLondon should be able to provide.

Extricating yourself from the buzz of online activity and establishing your own personal, viable brand before you are even considered for a job is becoming a must for getting into the creative industries.

Being an entrepreneur is increasingly a prerequisite rather than a career choice for young, ambitious and creative graduates. And in a world where graduate vacancies fell by 6.7 per cent in 2008 and a further 17.8 per cent in 2009 such careers are not easy to come by.

In the creative industries the recession is the least of their worries. In many cases the business model of the last 150 years – content – advertising – money – content is failing and will soon likely be gone forever. Young graduates hoping to put their talent into newspapers, television or publishing are probably not going to get a job, so being an entrepreneur isn’t a choice, its necessity.

Even a Carter-Ruck gag is redundant in the twittosphere

The Guardian gagging by libel firm Carter-Ruck is a perfect example of the power mass dissemination, democratisation and consumption of news. It is also an unfortunate example of how ‘traditional’ news organisations are failing to embrace the revolution this represents.

The guardian said this in the Monday’s Media Guardian:

The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck, who specialise in suing the media for clients, who include individuals or global corporations

By the next morning Trafigura was the number 1 trending topic on Twitter – literally the entire ‘twitosphere’ was discussing it. 

And who do you think Trafigura is? Have a look at this afternoon’s guardian.co.uk post by David Leigh:

The existence of a previously secret injunction against the media by oil traders Trafigura can now be revealed.

Within the past hour Trafigura’s legal firm, Carter-Ruck, has withdrawn its opposition to the Guardian reporting proceedings in parliament that revealed its existence.

Labour MP Paul Farrelly put down a question yesterday to the justice secretary, Jack Straw. It asked about the injunction obtained by “Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton Report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura”.

It was both the power that the appetite for the truth behind the gagged headline and the immunity from the notorious British Libel that the sheer numbers on twitter provided that enabled those who wanted to read and discuss the news to, well, read the news.

But they also created the news by commenting on and developing it as they tweeted, blogged and facebooked the story across the world. As Paul Canning has shown, even google maps are not immune from the information revolution: 

I was particularly tickled by this someone proporting to be ‘Trafigura’s board of the directors’ posted on the google map listing for Carter Ruck:

I retained carter ruck to serve an injunction on the british press to hide a certain indescretion with a boat, some africans and toxic waste. While initially they seemed competent, the resulting fallout (pardon the pun) has been nothing short of toxic. (there I go, punning again). We would have been better off with the “Where there is blame there is a claim” merchants they show during the ads on Jeremy Kyles show. In summary, not at all happy with the service

And yet, despite the internet being a-buzz with speculation, it took the BBC over 14 hours to begin their coverage of the story. It smacked not just of caution over libel risk but also of arrogance. ‘The people’ had decided the story and set the agenda and the traditional institutions were required to play catch-up. Channel four barely alludes to the issue on its main page news webpage

More 4 News (who, to be fair to them did cover the twitter angle quite interestingly) said it all:

(Twitter users) who, unfettered by legal constraints were able to score a victory over traditional media by publishing every last detail. It’s no wonder the bloggers are cock-a-hoop because although newspapers and TV are no longer banned from reporting on the parliamentary question, we still can’t talk about the contents of a confidential report by chemicals expert John Minton which is at the heart of the controversy.

Most traditional media outlets haven’t figured out how to work with new media in a remotely effective and, crucially, financially fruitful way and so it seems, they are jealous. The image presented of social networkers ‘cock-a-hoop,’ delighting in their victory just proves how complete their misunderstanding is. The people were engaging not attacking and a good journalist would seize on the interest not deride it.

Twitter is growing at a rate of 1382% a year (from Feb. 08 to Feb. 09) while More 4 News and Channel Four’s news at noon are no more as of the New Year.