Social media can help create a fear of crime

The development over recent years of social media as the place where increasing numbers of people play out their lives has been something to behold.

Social media offers great opportunities to learn as well as connect with a variety of people. It is also a forum whereby it is possible to cut oneself off from the real world surrounded by people who echo your own views.

It can be a force for good or ill. Take one example, the issue of crime. In many local areas, there are now hubs where people exchange information about all sorts of things. It can just be advice, services on offer or what is happening in terms of crime.

There are positives and negatives to these forums. It is good to know what is happening in the local area, especially on issues like crime. As I know from my own experience forewarned can very much be forearmed when it comes to avoiding becoming a victim of crime.

The problem comes when social media helps create hysteria. A crime takes place, that is then hyped up. Vengeance seems to be a popular sentiment expressed, though in most cases this is of little if any value to the victim. The blame game also ensues.

The most worrying aspect of this scenario is that it helps create fear in the community.

When recently canvassing for the local elections, there were some people who were literally cowering behind their doors due to fear of crime outside.

The potential for creating a crime panic on social media also came home when canvassing a local road. A number of people on social media told of how bad crime had got, others in the same road not on social media thought things no worse than usual.

Social media can ofcourse be of value in combatting crime, letting people know what is going on. Then more specifically there can be things like WhatsApp groups whereby people look out for each other in their own roads.

So there are pluses and minuses of social media when it comes to crime. The line is crossed when misrepresentation occurs which creates fear in the community of something that may not even exist.

- published in Wanstead and Woodford Guardian 9/8/2018 - "Social media can leave us afraid to go out"