Social media marketing.... it's a riot

If I stopped you on the street and asked you to join me in a rampage of destruction, trashing private businesses and setting vehicles alight, would you say yes? Unlikely. The chances are you'd politely decline my request, assume I was as high as a kite, and make good your escape.

Yet this is exactly the call to arms that has been broadcast via social media in the UK, and hundreds - if not thousands - of young people have turned out to join the madness.

Mindless criminality is nothing new. But the speed at which pockets of rioters have organised themselves across the UK has taken not only London, but the entire country, by surprise. Police and the British Government have singled out social media as one of the main reasons for this apparent acceleration in events - with ringleaders marketing their own cause to the masses on an unstoppable scale.

Is social media being used to market criminal behavior to people that would ordinarily have no interest in such events? Does it allow these people to feel involved, where they would otherwise not be? And why does marketing an openly illegal and seemingly causeless event in this way have such strong results?

Not sure if I even know what I'm talking about!!

Hi, and welcome to my first blog.  I'm at uni doing the final subject of my Masters of Marketing - Social Media Marketing. We've been asked to set up a blog to show we know what we're talking about when it comes to social media... 


So, what do I know about social media? I first fell in love with myspace back when it was cool. My love was short-lived and I'm now in a long-term relationship with Facebook, logging/checking in every chance I get, at home, at work, on the train, you name it. I've had job interviews where I was found on LinkedIn, I work in the automotive industry and use YouTube to showcase our cars. I use Flickr to see my nephew grow up in Canada.  I failed miserably at micro blogging on Twitter and I'm still trying to get that invite to Google+. If you invite me, I pinky swear not to bombard you with invites to games like Farmville and horoscope updates!?


I now also know some amazing stats about social media after class last week... 

And, that's about the extent of my SMM knowledge. 


What i really want to know is whether my habits are normal? Is it normal to check Facebook 15-20 times a day? Or, have you bucked the trend and deleted your profile??  Who else has tried and failed on Twitter? (if not, should I be following you?) Have you used LinkedIn for work? And honestly, do you still use myspace if you're not a musician??


Look forward to sharing this space with you. 
sarah