Twitter algorithm can detect riots faster than police, says study

Twitter algorithm can detect riots faster than police, says study

Twitter algorithm can detect riots faster than police, says study Analysis data showed that computer systems can automatically scan through Twitter & detect incidents

Technology News Twitter posts can help track riots and other violent events much before they are reported to the police, according to a study which shows that social media can be an invaluable source of information for law-enforcement officials.

An analysis of data taken from the London riots in 2011 showed that computer systems could automatically scan through Twitter and detect serious incidents, such as shops being broken into and cars being set alight, before they were reported to the UK Metropolitan Police Service.

The system, developed by researchers at Cardiff University in the UK, could also discern information about where the riots were rumoured to take place and where groups of youths were gathering.

The research, published in the journal ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, showed that on average the computer systems could pick up on disruptive events several minutes before officials and over an hour in some cases.

Researchers believe that their work could enable police officers to better manage and prepare for both large and small scale disruptive events.

"We have previously used machine-learning and natural language processing on Twitter data to better understand online deviance, such as the spread of antagonistic narratives and cyber hate," said Pete Burnap from Cardiff University.

"In this research we show that online social media are becoming the go-to place to report observations of everyday occurrences - including social disorder and terrestrial criminal activity," Burnap said.

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