Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

This has been the end of an extraordinary and horrifying week. The rioting in London which then spread all over the UK has shocked and frightened the general public and has caused a huge amount of damage to homes and businesses and tragically, the deaths of several people. While we all struggle to come to terms with what’s happened, some important questions have been asked about the role of Twitter and other social media in the riots: did people plan riots or incite them on Twitter? Should the social media accounts of these people be blocked and/or monitored? I personally came across one or two tweets that seemed to me to show a flippant attitude towards the rioting and I did find that disturbing. However, most tweets are on public record and if people were actually involved in planning or inciting riots through Twitter, it will surely be a lot easier to track them down than it would be otherwise.