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Heroes in the Tweets


street cleaning.JPGOK, I’ll admit it, I haven’t always been the most vocal supporter of the wonders of social networking. In fact, I was recently contemplating its similarities to the biblical plagues of Egypt—something in the neighborhood of the nagging flies of Facebook and the irritating boils of celebrity tweets.

But my faith in the goodness of mankind and its wise use of this new techy stuff has been bolstered. And it all started with the London riots you’ve been hearing about in the news.

Yes, there have been stories of the masked flash rioters using the likes of Blackberry Messenger to organize their despicable smashing and burning. And that deserves a frowning boo-hiss. But I’ve been reading lately about another online campaign that’s completely cheer-worthy.

It turns out that Twitter and Facebook are the perfect platforms to get things cleaned up after the rioters have been shooed away. Organizers have used social networks to reclaim the streets of London and amass crowds of volunteers to literally go sweep up the mess.

The Associated Press reported:

In Liverpool, which also saw rioting Monday, 21-year-old bartender Charles Jupiter set up a "Liverpool Clean Up" Facebook page that brought about 100 volunteers onto the streets Tuesday morning. "I thought, 'Not in my city'," Jupiter said. "People were posting, 'I'm embarrassed to be English, I'm embarrassed to be from London or Liverpool.' "I reposted and said, 'I'm not. That's why I'm going out there to help clean up.'"

Writer Erica Swallow of mashable.com talked about how the @RiotCleanup Twitter page amassed more than 50,000 followers in fewer than 10 hours. And because of that connection, Londoners like Heather Taylor immediately took to the streets to help.

“I saw the (#riotcleanup) hashtag spring up and thought, ‘We need to have a cleanup in Clapham,”‘ Taylor told Mashable. “So, (I) set the time for 9:00 at Nandos, which got passed around. … About 400 volunteers showed up to the cleanup in Clapham, and the local Sainsbury’s pitched in by distributing food to volunteers.”

Those are just two of the many stories and reports that are popping up. People coming together to clean vandalized buildings, scoop up the broken glass and show the world that mindless destruction does not rule.

I can only say “Bravo!” to one and all.

And to think, social networking helped lead the charge. I feel so embarrassed now for all my anti-tweeting ways.