{"id":1525,"date":"2017-07-03T12:48:17","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T17:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2017-07-03T12:48:17","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T17:48:17","slug":"gangs-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2017\/07\/03\/gangs-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Gangs on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Jason Howie, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In recent months, Facebook faced intense scrutiny due to the streaming of violent acts on their live streaming service. Beyond the live sharing of violent crimes, the proliferation of social media has transformed criminal activity, ranging from the advent of cyberbullying to the widespread dissemination of terrorist propaganda and recruitment. And social science research also suggests that gang members are also employing social media. These gang affiliates, typically adolescents and young adults, use their online presence to promote their gang identity and gain notoriety, in a phenomenon often called \u201ccyberbanging.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Gang members use the internet at equal rates and in similar ways to their non-gang peers, but their online behavior serves an additional symbolic purpose: demonstrating a gang affiliation. A survey of 137 adolescent gang members found that 74% reported using the internet to show or gain respect for their gang. Therefore, the Internet does not appear to be a tool that gang members use to further the interests of their group by recruiting members or promoting activities; rather, the web is a space for existing members to demonstrate and solidify gang status by watching videos of gang fights or posting taunts against competing gangs. Gang members are increasingly aware that the police monitor their activity online, so they attempt to avoid posting anything publicly about specific criminal acts, which could threaten the gang as whole. <\/span><\/h5>\n