Wednesday 23 January 2013

ANTI-SOCIAL NETWORKING

Now here's an interesting thing.  Latest crime figures for the UK show a continual significant decrease in crime.  There are those who assume that the figures have been massaged in some way.  They may be right.  There are those who think that the way statistics are compiled has somehow been changed to give a more favourable complexion.  That may be true too.  And there are those who claim that the presentation is weaselly worded, that now only reported crime is recorded for example and that people do not now bother to report instances that have become commonplace or that minor instances are simply disregarded by the authorities.  I'm sure that there is some of that too.

But there are other factors at work here.  In a survey last year for example, those asked felt that crime in Britain had changed little over the previous year.  But when asked about crime in their local area, the reaction was different.  There they believed that the number of crimes was falling.  And this was the consistent answer each month over the whole year.

So what is going on?  Well, after giving my thoughts on children with smart phones and Internet connections, it seems that social networking sites may have other benefits.  Other than pornography that is.  I thought that this was an interesting theory.

Of course online aggression may itself be a crime.  But maybe we prefer it off the streets.

10 comments:

  1. Well I scanned through all those theories and will go with the idea that there is a human need to make our marks on our territories, like cave art, and the i-pad teenagers and sick older people who do Facebook etc. don't actually have to go out in the cold of the evening to do it. Yikes...that will get me in trouble. Not P/C and ageist in reverse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I think what you say is perfectly acceptable and quite sensible, Karyn.

      Delete
  2. The article you linked to contains some interesting theories, any or all of which could plausibly contribute to the significant reduction in crime figures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let's see, Mitch. There was also a view that mobile phones better enabled rioters to coordinate their activities . . .

      Delete
    2. You'll notice I was careful to use vague terms such as 'could' and 'plausibly' :-))

      Delete
  3. I wouldn't like to say what has resulted in this apparent decline in vandalism. Perhaps the miserable weather has helped.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I;m sure many would-be criminals have been inclined to stay at home (as have I). Though we're venturing out tomorrow . . .

      Delete
    2. Have you got a 'job' lined up ?

      Delete
    3. Sorry, Cgarlie, didn't see this in time. Could have done with a bag man.

      Delete