Everyone is talking these days about social media and the way it affected London and UK riots. Well, I certainly don’t want to be an exception.

Lots of versions are present online, opinions and debates, whether there are double standards regarding social media influence in this year’s various worldwide riots.

One side says yes there are double standards because in Arab spring everyone praised social media and citizen journalists as revolution carriers and most influental factors of media presence and fast reporting. Actually, many think that precisely social media made possible many actions and positive development toward democratic changes.

Others don’t see these situations that way. Those who lost see social media as a bad thing. Some Arab governments even tried to shut Internet and ban social networking and reporting.

Another country, another riots and of course another opinion.
UK riots were and still are very much organized through social media and networks. So now instead of praising social media for informing police where the riots were, warning fellow citizens on possible danger and calling each other to after all clean up the mess, first impression is that social media bears the fault of organization.

Thieves, rioters and other vandalism groups also know to use social media. And those who hadn’t, stole gadgets to use them later.
Usually these things happen in crisis. So again we could see how one great thing can be used for good and bad purpose.

But to be honest that’s not the first time in entire human history when one great invention gets missused. Intented for doing good and serve human race, then turned against that same human race, by of course humans.

Basically, like in everything we do and most of all in business, we have to count and estimate what is higher, risk or gain, do we lose more or gain more.

Social media is a breakthrough, and I wouldn’t be me if I don’t mention together with citizen journalism, which certainly more contributed to some serious issues, than it made bad. Citizen journalism photos are not always perfectly clear but they still show what is crucial. Citizen journalism video is maybe shaky but very credible and striking.

Some cynics will say that social media and citizen journalism just created and spread illiteracy, but I’ll have to ask - will you be more concerned if you read on social media about “trein cresh” for misspelling or for the crash itself? Which is more important, spelling mistakes or to get informed, help people if you are near the scene, avoid getting into trouble and warn others?

In past different things had priority. It was more about having beautiful handwriting than what you wrote.
Today we prefer to get raw information than too late but without spelling mistakes.

As a conclusion I’ll say that everyone has right to use benefits of modern digital era, but how is matter of moment, society and of course personal ethics and beliefs.
Protests, riots and demonstrations became inseparable with social media, they go hand by hand and that won’t change.

Personally, I am just grateful that I live in time when I can communicate and receive information from entire world in a few seconds.