This presentation looks at the ways in which the riots were discussed on Twitter, during the four days of rioting in the UK during the summer of 2011. The 'Reading the Riots on Twitter' project examined 2.6 million riot tweets, focusing specifically on the role of rumours, whether incitement was organised on Twitter as well as who the key users were that tweeted the riots. Finally, it looks at how emergency services in particular can improve their social media strategies in the future.

1. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Rob Procter (University of Manchester)
Farida Vis (University of Leicester)
Alexander Voss (University of St Andrews)
[Funded by JISC]
#readingtheriots

2. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER UK riots (6-9 August 2011)
Police shoot and kill Mark Duggan on 4 August.
[Day 1 Tottenham – 6 August]
People gather outside the police station in Tottenham
to speak to a senior officer. No one speaks to them.
9pm family leaves, tensions grow. Police cars set on
fire. Intense looting, further fires and running battles
with the police ensue.

3. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
[day 2]

4. READING
THE RIOTS [Day 2: rest of London]
ON TWITTER
Riots spread to Enfield, 6 miles
north of Tottenham.
Fewer clashes with the police,
more focused on looting shops.
Similar disturbances in the south, in Brixton.
Further minor outbreaks elsewhere in London,
including in Oxford Circus, Hackney and Waltham
Forrest.

5. READING
THE RIOTS [Day 3: The disorder spreads]
ON TWITTER
Monday saw the most intense 24 hours of civil
unrest in recent history. 22 out of London‟s 32
boroughs were affected.
Two people dead. Rioting spreads to the
Midlands, Birmingham, West Bromwich,
Nottingham, Leicester, Liverpool and elsewhere.

6. READING
THE RIOTS [Day 4: Extra policing]
ON TWITTER
Unprecedented numbers of police in London.
Only minor incidents in the capital. Rioting
continues in the rest of the UK, including in
Birmingham where 3 young men were killed while
protecting shops.
Disturbances in Manchester and Salford – intense
looting of the city centre.

7. READING
What was going on?
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
“Criminality pure and
simple”
[Government repeatedly claimed]
NO links to poverty, lack of education,
opportunity, economic situation
NO NEED FOR AN INQUIRY (nothing to see here,
move along)

8. READING
The accusation
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
SOCIAL MEDIA =
TO BLAME FOR THE
RIOTS
BBM = Facebook = Twitter
Blackberry messenger closed network

9. READING
The accusers
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
David Cameron, Prime Minister
…“whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these
websites and services when we know they are plotting violence,
disorder and criminality”.
On the riots: “struck by how they were organised via social media”.
Louise Mensch, Conservative MP
Proposed temporary shutdown of Facebook and Twitter.
“Common sense. If riot info and fear is spreading by Facebook&
Twitter, shut them off for an hour or two, then restore. World won't
implode”.

10. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER The arrested

11. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER The arrested

12. READING
The defenders
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
THE POLICE (among many others)
Vital channel of communication
Kevin Hoy, web manager Greater Manchester police
Twitter allows for “direct reassurance” and “dispel rumours …
in a way that we could never have achieved previously”
On Use of Twitter: “overwhelmingly positive”

13. READING
The general public
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Two-thirds support social networking
blackout in future riots
“A poll of 973 adults carried out for the online security
firm Unisys found 70% of adults supported the shutdown of
Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry Messenger (BBM), while
only 27% disagreed.”
Support strongest among 65+, weakest
among 18-24 year olds.

14. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Groundbreaking study + conference

15. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER What role did social media play?
2.6 million riot tweets (donated by Twitter)
700,000 individual accounts
Initially:
o Role of Rumours
o Did incitement take place? [no – #riotcleanup]
o What is the role of different actors on Twitter?

16. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Early Twitter hashtag visualisation

17. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

18. READING
THE RIOTS #riotcleanup – seen potentially by 7
ON TWITTER
million users

19. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

20. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

21. READING
Role of Rumours
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

22. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

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THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER

48. READING
No evidence of incitement
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
BUT…
Celebrating having started rumours
(on the #readingtheriotshashtag)
Compete to get the best rumour adopted?
Vitriol against looters

49. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Who tweeted the riots? - individuals
1. riotcleanup 40960 mentions
2. paullewis 30031 mentions
3. piersmorgan 20412 mentions
4. bbcnews 18836 mentions
5. itv_news 15177 mentions
6. bbcbreaking 13476 mentions
7. guardian 11513 mentions
8. lawcol888 9290 mentions
9. simonpegg 9240 mentions
10. gmpolice 8904 mentions

50. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Who tweeted the riots? - categories
Top 200 Twitter accounts by actor type
140000
125768
120000 < mainstream media
100000
79043
80000 < journalists
59193 < riot accounts
60000
51534
45869
40000
30839 32308
25464
22896
16136 18163
20000 13303 14065 <
8285
4607 5757 5962
3196 spoof
4011
1031
0

51. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Who tweeted the riots?
Lots of different kinds of users
o Mainstream media + individual journalists mentioned most.
o Riotcleanup most mentioned individual account.
o Greater Manchester Police in the top 10 individual accounts.
Emergency services low overall.
Organise – broadcast – find information – voice
opinions – satire the riots, rioters and
commentators

52. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER lawcol888‟s broom army picture

53. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Who tweeted the riots?
Lots of different kinds of users
o Mainstream media + individual journalists mentioned most.
o Riotcleanup most mentioned individual account.
o Greater Manchester Police in the top 10 individual accounts.
Emergency services low overall.
Organise – broadcast – find information – voice
opinions – satire the riots, rioters and
commentators

54. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER 3 spoof accounts in top 200
Number 13, 6697 mentions
Number 20, 5939 mentions
Number 23, 5527 mentions

55. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER
Satirical comments and images
Fake PR for Rupert Murdoch:„SkyNews is right.
#LondonRiots all Twitter‟s fault. Give Twitter to me, we‟ll
strip it of importance and relevancy like we did to MySpace.‟
Can‟t get into BBM?
„just ask News International‟
Images of people planking during the riots

56. READING
THE RIOTS
ON TWITTER Conclusions Predictions
o Understand context o Listening platform (40%)
o Local context important o Improve role of police
o The rise of individuals o Downside of police on
Twitter?
o Better contain rumours
o Build on teams that can
o Better distribute handle and rapidly
information analyse big data
o Role of the emergency o Where will crisis
services - Everyday communication move?
Platforms? Streaming?

57. READING
THE RIOTS Jonathan Richards
Alastair Dant
ON TWITTER Katie Loweth
Marta Cantijoch
Yana Manyukhina
Rob Procter (University of Manchester) Mike Thelwall
Farida Vis (University of Leicester) Steven Gray
Alexander Voss (University of St Andrews) Rachel Gibson
[Funded by JISC] Andy Hudson Smith
http://www.analysingsocialmedia.org
/