Fort Apache, Paddington? Suburban crime often not how Facebook records it
The keyboard warriors prepared to record on social media anything that goes against their view of acceptable behaviour might be doing the neighbours a disservice.
University of Queensland research has found the reporting of minor crimes on community social media pages can make residents feel their neighbourhood is less safe, even when statistics show actual crime is low.
Dr Renee ZahnowĀ from UQāsĀ School of Social ScienceĀ and her research team surveyed a cross-section of Brisbane residents about their perceptions of crime in their suburb and compared it with crime data.
āSo far what weāve found is people will believe posts on their community Facebook page that suggest their area is criminogenic or unsafe,ā Zahnow said.
āBut itās often not borne out by the facts.
You might like
āThe chatter on these pages can create an impression of criminal or deviant behaviours that really are reports of minor incidents.ā
Zahnow said the type of behaviours commonly mentioned are people loitering, littering,Ā tipping over rubbish bins and not picking up dog waste.
āMore and more, social norms and the definitions of crime or disorder are starting to be constructed online,ā she said.
āAnd very safe places end up being unjustly stigmatised.ā
Stay informed, daily
Zahnow said other common community online posts were calls to āwatch outā for a particular group of people.
āIt can be passively racist, insinuating certain people are linked to crime when all they might be doing is walking down a street,ā she said.
āThe same thing happens with posts about young people, or someone wearing a cap or hoodie.
āIt means we become more and more suspicious and intolerant of particular groups in society and this can affect peopleās real-life interactions with them.ā
Zahnow said the perception of a suburbās āsafenessā could impact how often people used public spaces.
āWeāve found particularly some older people, who already have a heightened sense of crime despite statistically being low risk, are not going out and using public spaces,ā she said.
āThis has a huge impact and can lead to higher levels of loneliness, mental illness and issues with their physical health.ā
Zahnow said the next stage of her project was to take data on crime discourse from the community Facebook page for every suburb across Queensland over one week.
āIām interested to see if people posting about these incidents on Facebook are also reporting them and taking action offline,ā she said.
āIf theyāre intervening offline thatās probably good for crime prevention and community cohesion, but if theyāre just venting online and creating a sense of panic then thereās no benefit for the community.
āThe public discourse that we allow on mediums like Facebook really does influence the way people start to think and behave.ā
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
