The Internet in times of trouble

There are many stories of people using the Internet to do bad things, of people stalked using Facebook, cyberbullied or even people killed as a result of online arguments. However clearly the Internet can also be a force for good.

This week when the village I live in got the sad news from Afghanistan that James Grigg had been killed shorty after this 21st birthday many people turned to Facebook to find out what had happened and join the tribute group James Grigg will be missed. The news broke in the village on Wednesday and by that evening there were around 40 people in the group, Thursday saw film crews in the village and the story across the national press. As I write this there are 486 people in the group.

On the Stradbroke village website we removed most of the front page content for a tribute to James and added links to many photos already on the site of him. Friday saw 5 times the usual number of visitors to the site.

Local poet and fellow blogger Richard Pierce-Saunderson also published a poem on his Blog.

Even in a small close knit community like Stradbroke there are lots of people connected to the village who aren't currently living here, particularly in the age group most likely to be affected. The Internet provides a way to bring people together to share their memories and support each other and leave a lasting tribute.