Will social media save the day after the Vancouver Riots?
Last night hubby and I actually watched game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, we’re bandwagon kinda folks. We cannot devote ourselves to the time commitment of the whole season, but having grown up as Hockey peeps we were on board for the final. Not exactly the most loyal fans to say the least.
As all final games in the Stanley Cup this one was well attended, people were paying astronomical prices for the opportunity to attend. On game day tickets being sold online were going from $1500-$9000!
On average the scalpers were charging ten times the face value for seats.
Even more impressive, the private suites were going prices from $159000 – $199000!
Those prices deserve a whole article of their own, however something else has drawn my attention on this Wordfull Wednesday.
The game itself was fantastic, a true display of the effort, talent and heart that goes into Hockey.
It was a fast-paced game, for this competitive girl it was a nail biter. Even with the score 3-0 for Boston in the 2nd I was convinced that Vancouver had a chance to make a comeback.
In the end Boston won, their goalie was on fire; 37 saves to Thomas’ credit last night. Their fourth line played like a well oiled machine.
In the end it was a 4-0 victory for the Bruins.
The high-paying, loyal crowd in the stands were stunned. The disappointment was palpable but I’m certain they had no idea what was going on outside the area in the beautiful streets of Vancouver.
The city which hosted the 2010 Olympics was in a state of chaos. The worst riot the city has seen in decades had broken out. There were smashed windows, cars on fire, stabbings and looting throughout the downtown core after Vancouver lost.
While the riot was going on, photos were being snapped. Cell phones were out and social media was a buzz with these photos and comments from both people in the area and all over the world.
Within 12 hours of the riot a Facebook page, Vancouver-Riot-Pics-Post-Your-Photos, had been formed. Here is the group’s description:
“Lets post those pictures and put a label on the losers that made this city look so bad, ruined my neighborhood, and acted with out any class what so ever. We know you just took the photo’s, so post em, and let them speak a thousand words.” |
Today the page has over 24000 members.
There is also an event posted on Facebook, titled Post Riot Clean Up – Let’s help Vancouver. There are over 19000 who are attending and they’ve posted the go ahead to begin today.
Can social media make a difference in identifying the people responsible for the damage in Vancouver?
Of course it can, we have the ability to upload the photos, we can clearly see people’s faces in many of them. In some photos the people are unquestionable performing criminal acts.
The question is, will we use it?
If you opened up The Globe and Mail today to the photos below and realized that you knew some of the faces what would you do?
**The following photos are from www.theglobeandmail.com***
Would you use your knowledge and contact the authorities?
Social Media has changed our world in many ways, often putting us in uncomfortable positions.
For myself, knowing that a friend or family member had been caught up in mob mentality would be extremely uncomfortable to say the least, but I would hope that my integrity would remain intact.
Assuming the photo displayed a definitive criminal action performed by someone you know, what would you do?
And just who the hell performs such hateful damage while showing their faces proudly? How can we possibly think that these people aren’t willing to accept the known repercussions for their actions?
It will be interesting to see how social media affects this situation in the near future….will anything be done to avenge the destruction of this beautiful city?
Last night's events make me embarrassed to live here and to be a Canucks fan. Not because they lost, they took us for a fabulous ride, but because of the idiots the decided it would be cool to destroy our beautiful city. I am one who had friends downtown when the riots started and have just heard from them that they made it home safe. It is a chilling feeling to think that people could do this and I really hope that the police do use these pictures and this facebook page to help them catch these idiots. They deserve to be caught and punished. They are not fans, they came downtown with full intention of causing trouble…win or lose. Thanks for posting Julie.
I'm with Tammy, the people doing the destruction are the people who decided to act out. I am actually from Boston, (I didn't watch the game, don't tell!) but a few years ago the red sox's won and I was living in the backbay at the time and people rioted, I think at least 3 people were KILLED!! It doesn't matter if it is good or bad, people will act out when they want to. I remember I was so scared, I felt like I could be hurt. (I was also drunk and about a mile away form the problems, but that's how I was when I drank).I hope they get caught, I hope they are embarrassed and taken to task for the damage they caused. We all need to be accountable. Great post!!
Very very thoughtful post on social media and the game. I am not a big fan of sports, and not a competitive person but I was shocked to see this happen. I have been to BC many times and so knowing that this may happen there was a shock. Thank you for your thoughtfulness on the subject!
Thankfully, those folks are not representative of all Canucks fans (I am a Wings fan, but was rooting for Vancouver). Great piece, thanks for the read.