Smart Mobs and Riots in Sydney

There has been much discussion as to the prominent role of email and SMS in the recent race riots in Sydney. Below are a couple of interesting reponse's taken from the 'fibreculture' mailing list:

Response
Fire is dangerous! Fire keeps you warm! If I was the first person to
identify those two facts, should I take credit or blame for fireplaces
or theater fires?

People use media to organize collective action, and always have. Some
people do constructive things and some people do destructive things.
Are we better off not talking about it?

We blogged this on smartmobs.com, of course. The riots in Nigeria
around the Miss World pageant two years ago also involved the use of
SMS to summon people. They also use SMS to monitor election fraud in
Africa.

We need a more nuanced vocabulary for discussing the mixture of
benefits and perils that accompany the use of new technologies.

Howard Rheingold
howard@rheingold.com www.rheingold.com www.smartmobs.com

Response
Widespread use of mobile and ubiquitous information and communications
technology by urban dwellers remains in stark contrast to endemic forms
of urban alienation - and the disappearance or non-existence of urban
neighbourhood community identity.

Neighbours may still be part of a resident’s social portfolio, but the
communication devices used to maintain social ties are inherently
place-independent and ephemeral. Getting to know someone in their role
as a neighbour is less likely than getting to know them in their role
as a co-worker or being the friend of a friend.

How can these tacit and soft assets be elicited, connected, networked
and harnessed to become “smart” assets in the service of both social
and economic innovation in metropolitan areas?

Networked communities: an answer to urban alienation?
By Marcus Foth