Twitter users unite for riot clean-up

Aftermath of disturbances in the Clapham Junction area of London on Tuesday morning

Politicians and police may have blamed Twitter and Facebook for stoking the fire under street violence in London and beyond, but tens of thousands of social network users have responded by co-ordinating a massive clean-up effort.

Invoking the spirit of the Wombles, the environment-friendly creatures from the 1970s BBC children’s TV show, the phrase “riotcleanup” became one of the most discussed topics on Twitter globally on Tuesday morning as communities rallied after a third night of looting in the capital.

Businesses large and small have borne the brunt of attacks by young people who set fire to carpet and furniture shops and raided department stores and sportswear retailers all over London.

But the same attributes of easy sharing and viral distribution which have caused concern about social media’s role in fomenting the looting and riots have made online networks ideally positioned to co-ordinate the clean-up effort.

A focal Twitter account, @Riotcleanup, rapidly attracted more than 60,000 followers on Tuesday.

“Let’s ask why tomorrow. First step is to show love to our communities who need help but a much bigger problem exists post clean-up,” said one posting.

Musician Sam Duckworth, of the indie band Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, started the @riotcleanup Twitter account after Worthing-based artist Dan Thompson coined the hashtag on Monday evening.

“The joy of Twitter is people grab it, pick it up and run with it,” Mr Thompson told the FT. “The council is doing a great job at getting the streets clean. We wanted to offer independent traders that bit of help to get their businesses up and running as soon as possible.”

Using hashtags – a way of tracking discussions about the same topic on Twitter – and with aid from several prominent users, groups of people took to the streets of Hackney, Peckham and Liverpool to sweep streets and clean burnt-out shops.

Simon Pegg, an actor, and Kate Nash, a singer, were among Twitter’s celebrity users who directed their large followings towards @riotcleanup and the #riotcleanup hashtag. John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister and avid Twitter user, asked B&Q’s official account to donate brooms to the effort.

Large media outlets including BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and Channel 4 News also drew attention to the drive.

Some of the well-meaning efforts were stymied by police cordons, while others found that council workers had already done much of the cleaning work for them.

Similar spontaneous organisation occurred in Vancouver after ice-hockey fans ran amok in the Canadian city in June. More than 13,000 people joined a Facebook group directing people to particular streets and requesting they bring gloves, bin bags and “smiles”.

By 9.30am on Tuesday, nearly 400,000 people had joined a Facebook group pledging support for London’s embattled Metropolitan Police. The Met has faced questions over its ability to manage widespread street violence at a time of government budget cuts to police forces around the country.

The Met has said it will post images of looters online and ask communities to identify the criminals involved. Several ad-hoc efforts to do so have already begun though the Facebook group and a Tumblr page, dubbed “Catch a Looter”.

Tony Wang, Twitter’s recently appointed UK general manager, lent his support to the scheme in a tweet: “[The] same force that brings down governments can rebuild cities. I’m talking people and not technology.”