Social Media, Social Good: Ultra-Large Scale Public Engagement Systems to Challenge Anti-Social Behaviour

Social networking technologies are now being used to improve community cohesion via both government-led initiatives (e.g., Gov 2.0) and community-led ones (e.g., SeeClickFix). Yet there is still a lack of understanding of how to effectively leverage social media to engage citizens on an ultra-large-scale, especially when it comes to addressing sensitive issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour. Within this cross-disciplinary account, we combine Computing and Sociology research to study the feasibility of utilising new forms of social media to empower citizens to influence the design of such systems. Such an understanding is crucial-massive UK debt is resulting in cuts to public services as well as leading to new economic models for public service provision, which place community responsibility at their core. Design and HCI research has shown that participatory design, whereby users and other stakeholders form an integral part of the design team, is an effective mechanism for user engagement. What social networking technologies potentially offer is a way of scaling this participation up to ultra-large levels. The Account focuses on three key feasibility studies in this context: (i) Feasibility of new forms of social media for large-scale public engagement in identifying target issues that are of most significance to specific communities, both online ones, such as those that exist on Facebook or Secondlife, and communities in the physical world. (ii) Feasibility of new forms of social media to underpin an unprecedentedly large participatory design setting that engages a range of community stakeholders while addressing ethical and legal implications and accounting for disruptive efforts of those who may be targeted by the system being designed.(iii) Feasibility of operationalising (into designs) blueprints of next generation social networking mechanisms that place community responsibility and empowerment at their core.Inclusiveness of otherwise marginalised communities/individuals is a key consideration within the studies with specific social media being developed to ensure inclusion.Thus the Account simultaneously builds on and broadens the focus of existing EPSRC investment in cross-disciplinary research in four grants; all of these grants are cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional and investigate the potentials and challenges of the internet and Web 2.0 in addressing issues of crime (e.g., paedophilia and community safety), resilience (crime reporting and disaster planning) and community cohesion (relationship building). Although the account is centred on Lancaster, it actively promotes collaboration with our large network at other institutions, e.g., the 15 higher education institutions and research centres involved in our existing grants above and partners such as, the Home Office, Interpol, various city and county councils, local police and schools.In addition to scientific knowledge gained from the studies reported in articles and reports targeted at policy/practice audience and the general public, the Account also aims to develop a Community Empowerment Programme, to be utilised by communities to design systems to tackle anti-social behaviour issues in their area. Furthermore, the results from the studies form the basis of an Ultra-large-scale Living lab, where communities, researchers and practitioners come together to undertake unprecedentedly large studies of the role of social media in tackling societal problems.

The principal beneficiaries of the project are communities, as the feasibility studies are aimed at placing them at the core any anti-social behaviour interventions. As such the results from the project will lead to not only empowerment of communities in tackling societal problems that they face but also firmly place the focus on community participation being at the core of any system designs to tackle them. Within communities, young persons will specifically benefit, as they are often the targets of anti-social behaviour measures. The innovative approach within the feasibility studies will give them a major voice in the design of such systems and integrate youth perspective and the issues that affect them into the design fabric of the resulting systems. The other key beneficiaries are policy makers and practitioners in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Policy makers will benefit from the insights gained from the community-centred design approach within the project and the role that new forms of social media can play in tackling societal problems. As such there is a strong potential for a paradigm shift in the way we approach the design and deployment of anti-social behaviour systems. Law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners will benefit from the target issues identified through the feasibility studies and the community perspectives on suitable strategies to tackle the problems they face. This will lead to enhanced communication between communities and practitioners leading to cohesive strategies to deal with societal problems. Given our broad focus on communities, both online and physical communities, there are unprecedented opportunities here for policy makers and practitioners to study the role that the Internet plays in both enabling and tackling anti-social behaviour, such as paedophilia, drugs, bullying, etc. Another beneficiary is industry engaged in developing public safety systems. The new forms of social media being investigated and prototyped within the project will lead to innovative system designs and new techniques for approaching public safety initiatives that rely on communities playing the pivotal role in tackling the problems they face. The research undertaken in the project will be beneficial to a number of disciplines. The software engineering community, computer science and human-computer interaction research will benefit from the scaling of participatory design to ultra-large-levels. This will not only provide insights into the challenges faced when conducting participatory design on such an unprecedentedly large scale, but also lead to a new research agenda on social media that is driven by community empowerment. Sociology research will benefit from the studies of the impact of such novel social media practices on the criminal justice system and the role that social media can play in improving community life. Last, but not least, those engaged in research on societal problems and social media, both at Lancaster and beyond, will benefit from the strong cross-disciplinary ethos fostered by the project. Specifically, the Ultra-Large-Scale Living Lab envisaged within the project will open up hitherto unavailable opportunities for studying the role of social media in society on a massive scale. Furthermore, our public engagement activities will be aimed at both educating the public at large about strategies and social media tools to tackle anti-social behaviour and encouraging a lively debate on the ethics and privacy implications of such social media interventions.