The London riots has led to the first ever conviction against an individual for setting up of a page on facebook.
In fact, two individuals were sentenced to 4-years imprisonment for setting up two respective facebook pages. Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were handed the toughest sentences by the judges so far in the riot cases.
Blackshaw created an event on the site entitled 'Smash Down Northwich Town,' while Sutcliffe-Keenan used facebook to encourage a riot. Clearly not their most sanguine nor sane moment for two men who have been reported to have “both being of previous good character” by the media.
The judges probably hadn't read a recent report by a psychology professor of an American university on the affects of social networking on teens, otherwise they might have been a bit more lenient... of course they would also have to believe in passing the buck!
On a side note, while facebook and twitter were both blamed by law enforcing authorities and the national government authorities of playing a unfortunate role in the London riots, however, it has been found that RIM's free BlackBerry messenger service had been the true (anti-)social champion during the chaos.
But back to the report from Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at the California State University. The professor's research on the effects of social media on the human interaction indicated that overdosing of facebook could result in deep psychological disorders and the development of antisocial behaviour, narcissism and a slew of other character flaws and negative by-products.
The London riots seem to be a reality case in point. QED.
All is not lost however, the study also indicated increased 'virtual empathy' where instead of physical encouragement through hugs, facial expressions or kind words to improve a loved one's mood, teens were displaying virtual empathy with distressed online friends and the empathy, communicated through emoticons and typed words (and super abbreviated common phrases), was also being well-received by friends and seen to positively influence their mood.
In what I see as an unexpected twist, the professor expects that such virtual empathy could “even spill over into the real world.”
Asked what he meant when he 'coined' the phrase “real world” - three of seven teens who completed the online survey said that they had no experience with this sort of world but “would be happy to download the app.”
Okay I made it up! Not the study mind you, but just the bit about the online survey. Although I don't think my 'findings' would be that off the mark really.
In fact, two individuals were sentenced to 4-years imprisonment for setting up two respective facebook pages. Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were handed the toughest sentences by the judges so far in the riot cases.
Blackshaw created an event on the site entitled 'Smash Down Northwich Town,' while Sutcliffe-Keenan used facebook to encourage a riot. Clearly not their most sanguine nor sane moment for two men who have been reported to have “both being of previous good character” by the media.
The judges probably hadn't read a recent report by a psychology professor of an American university on the affects of social networking on teens, otherwise they might have been a bit more lenient... of course they would also have to believe in passing the buck!
On a side note, while facebook and twitter were both blamed by law enforcing authorities and the national government authorities of playing a unfortunate role in the London riots, however, it has been found that RIM's free BlackBerry messenger service had been the true (anti-)social champion during the chaos.
But back to the report from Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at the California State University. The professor's research on the effects of social media on the human interaction indicated that overdosing of facebook could result in deep psychological disorders and the development of antisocial behaviour, narcissism and a slew of other character flaws and negative by-products.
All is not lost however, the study also indicated increased 'virtual empathy' where instead of physical encouragement through hugs, facial expressions or kind words to improve a loved one's mood, teens were displaying virtual empathy with distressed online friends and the empathy, communicated through emoticons and typed words (and super abbreviated common phrases), was also being well-received by friends and seen to positively influence their mood.
In what I see as an unexpected twist, the professor expects that such virtual empathy could “even spill over into the real world.”
Asked what he meant when he 'coined' the phrase “real world” - three of seven teens who completed the online survey said that they had no experience with this sort of world but “would be happy to download the app.”
Okay I made it up! Not the study mind you, but just the bit about the online survey. Although I don't think my 'findings' would be that off the mark really.
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