In almost five weeks time I will be sat on a bike cycling a near 400-mile route around Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Needless to say I expect it to be arduous mentally and physically, however, all for a good cause, Exeter Leukaemia Fund.  Those aware of my madness have been asking what my motivation is for doing it. I don’t normally talk about it, but as by way of explaining myself I attempt to do so here. I lost my own Dad to a different form of cancer nearly 20 years ago. In fact, when I’m on the ride, it will be almost 20 years to the date when he was first diagnosed. Times flies!

Many of you unfortunately know what a life threatening diagnosis can mean. For me it was life changing. For days, weeks and months I asked the second biggest question of all; why? Then I spent time dissecting why I’d caused it. Mine was the argument we’d had five years before over who’d eaten all the biscuits in the tin! Stupid stuff!

The first time dad was in hospital, I couldn’t build up the courage to see him. I was scared I would flip out and fail him in my duty as the strong daughter he had nurtured me to be. But I got used to the wires, the constant scratching of heads by professionals and the bewilderment I felt. The roller coaster ride between hope and despair, intersected with great hilarity, because sometimes humour was the only way we could cope. I once asked him how he was feeling, his reply “Like a pin cushion in an animal laboratory” was his response characterised by a wry smile!

Robert Delaunay is quoted as saying “I am very much afraid of definitions, and yet one is almost forced to make them. One must take care, too, not to be inhibited by them.” Agreed but lack of definition can lead to confusion and that is what is happening in social media as it enters a new phase!

Its already become too sophisticated and that phrase ‘social media’ is increasingly clouding some of the discussions and outcomes of policy decisions and solutions at the highest level in government and organisations. It also obscuring people’s understanding. We need to re define social media and bring a comprehensive discussion to the table. There will always be several definitions of phraseology, I just want to start the debate. Here are some thoughts:

“The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed–would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper–the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.” George Orwell, 1984.

Shutting down social networks will be discussed heavily over the forthcoming weeks in a knee jerk reaction to the riots last week in some English cities. What a great idea:

1. It seems to work well in China. They have very few protests, riots and anarchy. It allows the Chinese government to prevent students, artists, public sector workers and any other agent provocateurs from ‘starting fires.’

2. We could ban talking out loud in shops, restaurants, homes and work during civil unrest as well. Perhaps during these times we could ban body language too.

The events of the last week across England should act as not just a warning to the parents of the children involved in such wanton vandalism, but every single one of us. The way in which we communicate has been turned upside down. We will need to get used to the idea that communication happens equally online as well as offline.

It is too early to tell, but once the analysis is complete, I hazard a guess that the reason the Met failed to be able to marshall and eventually stop the rioters was because the situation was moving quicker than they could even think never mind react. You can’t control something that changes quicker than you. They did not require riot vans but needed to understand the way in which these young people were mobilising themselves so that they could ‘head them off’ and restore order.

And there is the message for organisations, governments, individuals and small businesses, in fact, society as a whole.

If you’re a small and medium sized business and still deliberating about social media and its use, you’re too late. You had an 18 month steal on the corporates where the playing field was marginally levelled. You had an opportunity to really take advantage of the slowness of the corporates to respond but they have mobilised their marketing departments, re allocated marketing budgets, commissioned social media consultants to advise them and employed social gurus to future proof them. We are beginning to  see the impact of that in market share which is causing mild concussion for many.

It’s a social media thing and most people still don’t understand it! I’m not the only one frustrated by the claptrap that has spurted from certain fraternites of the media these last few days about social media being responsible for the London riots. Take a peak at thisislondon and BBC articles.

We will avoid the dumbing down of journalism and the poor standards being exhibited by global media brands including the BBC nowadays. Another time over a drink maybe! Information flows have always being substantially affected by the size and character of social networks. Twenty years ago this happened via physical word of mouth. This week its happened both physically and virtually. Double whammy! That’s why we have seen the sheer numbers of rioters involved, how things changed so rapidly and, as a result, why it got out of control so quickly. Its been a form of viral rioting.

Social networks provide reach, volume and spreadability. There is a lesson here for politicians, leaders of large institutions and anyone in an authoritative position, society and behaviour is re organising itself. I’m not condoning the actions of these misguided and mindless individuals but there is a strong message. Uprisings can happen, even within organisations and very swiftly.

When we don’t understand something, we hastily blame it, granted it also helps if inflammatory headlines sell a few more newspapers. Social networks have energy so yes they can fuel things, but the energy originates from and is created by the humans. We are doing our usual thing; asking what happened, who to implicate and how are we going to punish those responsible rather than the equally valuable question, why it happened?

Those who criticize this generation forget who raised it. We have failed to embed community values, a sense of belonging and the importance of social capital in this rather upturned world that believes that you put the individual first not society. In truth, you can’t expect people to respect authority if every week that authority is demonstrably being shown to be corrupt. We have advocated the relationship between income and happiness despite evidence to the contrary and ignored the strong association between personal and community relationships.

Social media is no more responsible than my Gran. If, you want it your way and social media is to blame, there is no need to feel anguished, the Police will be able to trace, find those really responsible and hopefully bring justice to those people affected by these awful events. In fact, used creatively, social media could be used to facilitate unity and strength in the communities so devastated recently.