London’s bridge (of peace and order) is seriously falling down. One of the world’s richest and busiest cities is now battling days of riots spurred by masked/unnamed culprits in defiance of police brutality.  Very far from the usual scene of people safely walking along the streets, London is now a sight of despair drawn from torched buildings, police cars, looting and widespread violence.  But the nation is rising above this tragic chaos with the aid of technology. Who could have predicted that Brits’ addiction to smartphones would be put to such use? Citizen Journalism faces off with the toughest incidents in recent memory.

Traditional media just could not keep up with the fast-moving and prevalent terror looming the city. While they are struggling, citizen journalists do the job well enough to keep the world informed from the very heart of the riots. Five basic online tools have been identified to support journalists in reporting incidents of violence in London: maps, video, blogs, curation tools and timelines. Digging a little further, here are some bits and pieces of these tools.

Twitter and Social Media

The micro-blogging site is always present to spread the news through tweets and retweets. Very accessible to anyone, Twitter is an avenue that hosts citizen journalism at its best. It rose to some kind of prominence in the UK since before the onset of the London riots. However, uncontrolled emotions and surges of information have also caused confusion and only aggravate the issues at hand.  The free flow of information from everywhere creates mix-ups in certain segments.  Perhaps, we’re missing the editorial piece in broadcasting using social media. Others feel that Twitter and Blackberrys have fanned flames on the riots.  But this tandem has also mobilized riot clean-ups.

Photos and Videos

Startling images and haunting videos from London riots were also documented by first-hand witnesses.  IJNet.org lists the top five websites that carry a number of vivid and distressing images from the incidents that began last Sunday. This includes Blottr, Instagram, Citizenside, The-Latest and Flickr.  Blottr has been relatively active in posting images of photographed rioters around Birmingham.  The site does not only provide pictures, they also included numbers and contact information in case anyone recognizes looters in the numerous shots.  Even police are using these information to catch the perpetrators.

The series of unfortunate London riots have spread fear all over the capital city. The world is well aware of this debacle and organizations like eBay are blocking looted goods to be auctioned in their site, vowing to extend their help.  But, these have also paved the way for ordinary sincere citizens to become heroes, with only smartphones and internet as their weapons to save lives.