1. SOCIAL MEDIA, LONDON
RIOTS AND
REPRESENTATION OF
YOUTHS

2. RE CAP OF THEORY
SO FAR…
Stan Cohen
• Moral Panics
• Deviance amplification
• Folk devils
David Gauntlett
• “Identities are not „given‟ but are constructed and negotiated.”

3. DAVID BUCKINGHAM
“A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the
diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in
everyday life, and their consequences for both individuals
and for social groups”
AIMS OF LESSON
- To examine the use of social media and how it contributed
to the construction of representation of youths during the
London riots.

4. MICHEL FOUCAULT
For Foucault, people do not have a 'real' identity within
themselves; that's just a way of talking about the self - a
discourse.
An 'identity' is communicated to others in your interactions with
them, but this is not a fixed thing within a person. It is a
shifting, temporary construction.
Power is something which can be used and deployed by
particular people in specific situations, which itself will produce
other reactions and resistances; and isn't tied to specific groups or
identities.
Power outcomes are not inevitable and can be resisted.

5. APPLYING FOUCAULT
The discourse in our instance is the justice and equality enforced
by the press and news broadcasts.
The power in our instance is the mass media.
Consider:
To what extent was space given to young people within the
discourse?
If, as Foucault states, power outcomes can be resisted, how did
young people show resistance to the power?

6. INVESTIGATIVE
QUESTIONS
Does it fuel identity? Or is it a form of democratisation?
Can media and technology be seen as a means of surveillance
and control for authorities?

7. COLLECTIVE IDENTITY –
DEFINITION
„The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of
individuals' sense of belonging to the group or collective. For
the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes
a part of his or her personal identity. It is possible, at
times, that this sense of belonging to a particular group will
be so strong that it will trump other aspects of the person's
personal identity.‟
Collective Identity.net

8. SOURCE:
HTTP://UK.REUTERS.COM/ARTICLE/2
011/08/10/UK-BRITAIN-RIOTS-
HACKNEY-IDUKTRE77942520110810
Britain's mainstream media have seized on the stereotype of
hooded, unemployed, violent youth as the culprits.
Demonization of youths

11. SOURCE:
HTTP://UK.REUTERS.COM/ARTICLE/2
011/08/10/UK-BRITAIN-RIOTS-
HACKNEY-IDUKTRE77942520110810
The mass media repeat the term „feral youth‟, „shopping
violence‟, „thugs‟, „yobs‟. However it is worth remembering that….
…among a large number of detained rioters that kept one London
court busy throughout the night were a graphic designer, a
graduate student and someone about to join the army.
A far cry from the representation portrayed by much of the mass
media.

12. SOCIAL MEDIA
• Used primarily by the „younger generation‟
• Despite being depicted by tabloids as mindless
thugs, rioters were also seen as skillful enough to co-
ordinate their actions via Facebook, Twitter and
Blackberry.
• During the riots social media was seen as posing a threat
to social order.
• Used to organise gangs to riot against police.

13. BLACKBERRYS
A recent Ofcom report highlighted BlackBerrys as the most
popular handset among 16-24 year olds, mainly because the
handsets are affordable and BBM is private and free.

14. ROLE OF BBM
• Blackberry smartphone of choice for the majority (37%) of
British teens, according to last week's Ofcom study
• For many teens armed with a BlackBerry, BBM has
replaced text messaging because it is free, instant and
more part of a much larger community than regular SMS.
• And unlike Twitter or Facebook, many BBM messages are
untraceable by the authorities

15. CAN MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY BE
SEEN AS A MEANS OF
SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL FOR
AUTHORITIES?
• Tottenham MP David Lammy called for companies to suspend
their services.
• Some called for the internet to be „turned off‟.
• Can you simply ‘turn off’ the internet?
• Could this been seen as an exertion of power over young
people?

16. INVESTIGATIVE
QUESTION
Does it fuel identity? Or is it a form of democratisation?
• Blackberry phone is a status symbol and is used by 37% of
British teens
• Social media enabled gangs of youths to organise riots
anonymously using BBM.
• Could be argued that youths wanted to protest against
government cuts, unemployment, high tuition fees etc. and
social media enabled them to do so.

17. POSITIVE LIGHT?
• Social media is accessible to all.
• Social media lowers the barriers to expression.
• Social media has created more opportunities for people to
have their say.
• Scholar Henry Jenkins celebrates these kinds of
„participatory‟ media and argues that a “participatory culture is
one in which members believe their contributions matter, and
feel some degree of social connection with one another.
Participatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from one of
individual expression to community involvement."
• Some even see this as evidence of democratisation.

19. @RIOTCLEANUP

21. NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR
VOLUNTARY YOUTH
SERVICES
• NCVYS is the independent voice of the voluntary and
community youth sector
• Shortly after the riots they started a photo album in
response the negative representation of youth called „Not
in my name‟

23. SOCIAL MEDIA AND
REPRESENTATION OF
YOUTH
•Social media was used in many positive ways.
• Offers youths a voice to challenge authority and
stereotypical representations of themselves.
• According to the ideas of Henry Jenkins, a participatory
culture (through social media) can create social connections
and create community involvement.
• We saw this community involvement in the clean up after the
riot and also the Not in my name campaign by NCVYS.

24. SOCIAL MEDIA AND
REPRESENTATION OF
YOUTH
•The difference with Twitter and Facebook is that they are always
on, and real-time in a way that even television often isn‟t.
•But the real power comes from the connections that such tools
allow between individuals: people who may not even know each
other, but become part of a much larger phenomenon via their
social connections and their ability to communicate quickly and
easily.
• Riot clean up – positive representation of youths
• BBM to organise riots – threat to social order

25. SOCIAL MEDIA AND
REPRESENTATION OF
YOUTH
•That can help citizens rise up against their dictatorial
governments
• Offers youths a voice and can respond to representations
constructed by the mass media.
•However it can also help thugs and thieves take advantage of a
cause to create panic and disorder.
• As seen with the use of BBM to organise riots.

26. FURTHER
CONSIDERATIONS
If young people feel they are being misrepresented and feel that
they don‟t have a voice then they will feel disengaged with
society. However social media can give them that voice.
Steve Anderson, creative director of debate show Free Speech
for BBC 3 states that
„Younger people are becoming a lot more
empowered because of social media platforms
such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging.‟
He goes on to say that the power is transferring away from older
people in charge of producing the media, to the audience itself
(through social media).

28. RE CAP | DAVID
BUCKINGHAM
“A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse
ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and
their consequences for both individuals and for social groups”
-This argument helps to support some of the issues raised this session.
- Mass media tends to project negative representations of youths through the
imagery and language used during reports.
-The people who produce the media (may!) be of an older generation with
traditional values and have a „top down‟ approach to media production
offering young people little room for their voice to be heard and thus
reinforcing the negative image portrayed.
-Youths want to have a voice and feel empowered by social media which
enables them to challenge authority (although not always in a positive way).
-The power, it could be argued, is shifting. Through social media, a
fairer, more democratic society could emerge.

29. DISCUSSION AND
ACTIVITY
• Using your research so far discuss the following questions:
• How far were the responses of the rioters themselves given
space in the media?
• Given the general framing of young people as the key participants
in the events, how much space was given to young peoples‟
voices – and what sorts of young people were given space to
respond in the media debates?
• To what extent did social media challenge or confirm
representations of youth identity in the mass media during the time
of the London riots?
• Discuss the positive and negative.
• Use examples and theory to illustrate your argument.