Perspective
The Mean Tweets of New York
Tracking gang conflicts on social media is controversial, but it can help community members and law enforcement get ahead of shootings—without arrest and incarceration.
In obscure inlets of social media, young urban men and women provoke each other in virtual vendettas that can turn deadly IRL. “Cyberbanging,” the unfortunate moniker for this phenomenon, often starts with harmless, slangy boasts on social media. Here’s one Twitter user’s call to New York City’s 100 Cloccs crew.
But these boasts sometimes escalate to threats, shootings, and reprisals.