Crime facilitation purposes of social networking sites: A review and analysis of the ‘cyberbanging’ phenomenon

Abstract

There have been growing claims in media circles and law-enforcement settings that street gangs and criminal groups are turning to Internet-based social networking sites for various reasons ranging from the showcasing of their images and exploits to the suspected recruitment of members. The present study investigates whether such a trend is, in fact, in place. The presence of street gangs on these Internet sites is referred to as cyberbanging. While there is some anecdotal evidence suggesting that gangs are turning to social networking sites, there is little available research on exactly how street gangs and criminal groups use the Internet. Our main argument is that gang culture is in many ways an individualized phenomenon and this feature ties in directly with recent assessments of the Internet as a setting that is governed by a process of networked individualism. This theoretical link between the individualized gang setting and the presence of gang members on social networking sites helps us understand why recruitment is improbable even in a context where people are openly diffusing their image and exploits to a growing number of Internet users. The empirical segment of this research adds to this general outlook. Based on a keyword search of over 50 street gang names, the three main social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace) were monitored for street gang presence. Results illustrate that gang presence on social networking sites is linked primarily to promoting a general gang or street culture through individual displays. In regard to the visitors to such sites, there is no evidence that they are being tricked or manipulated in any way. They are, however, showing their curiosity in regard to such groups and, for those who share their comments and opinions, signs of support are evident. Thus, whereas criminal gangs are not proactively using the Internet to convert anyone into being gang members, social networking sites are creating a new venue for people who share or are sensitive to the values underlying street gang lifestyle to come together. These sites essentially create a new convergence setting for gang members to interact with a wider number of people who would probably never have been exposed to their lifestyles and exploits through physical interactions. The study's conclusion extends these findings toward further research in this area, as well as outlining the more relevant implications for law-enforcement monitoring of this growing phenomenon.

Keywords:

• social network
• street gangs
• cybercrime
• social media

Acknowledgements

We thank Cameron McIntosh for his suggestions and overall guidance throughout the preparation of this study.

Notes

 1. Morselli et al., ‘The Mobility of Criminal Groups’; Van Dijk, ‘Mafia Markers’; Van de Bunt, Prevention of Organized Crime; Jacobs, Gotham Unbound.

 2. Williams, ‘Organized Crime and Cybercrime’.

 3. CISC, Report on Organized Crime.

 4. Gutierrez, ‘Street Gangs Using Internet for Violent Bragging Rites’.

 5. Vasquez, ‘Gangs Turn to Social Networking Sites to Recruit’.

 6. Decker et al., ‘Gangs, Migration, and Crime’.

 7. Womer and Bunker, ‘Sureños Gangs and Mexican Cartel Use of Social Networking Sites’.

 8. Klein and Crawford, ‘Groups, Gangs, and Cohesiveness’.

 9. See, for example, Weisel ‘The Evolution of Street Gangs’; Fleisher, Beggars and Thieves; and Skolnick et al., ‘Gang Organization and Migration’.

10. Kennedy et al., ‘The (Un)Known Universe’.

11. Tita et al., Reducing Gun Violence.

12. McGloin, ‘Police and Intervention Considerations of a Network Analysis of Street Gangs’.

13. Morselli, Inside Criminal Networks.

14. Katz et al., ‘The Validity of Police Gang Intelligence Lists’.

15. Klein, Street Gangs and Street Workers, 96.

16. Wellman, ‘The Global Village’; Wellman, ‘Computer Networks as Social Networks’.

17. Burt, ‘Structural Holes in Virtual Worlds’, 11.

18. Gambetta, Codes of the Underworld, xv.

19. Felson, Crime and Nature.

20. Womer and Bunker, ‘Sureños Gangs and Mexican Cartel Use of Social Networking Sites’.

21. Zhongbao Kou and Changshui Zhang, ‘Reply Networks On A Bulletin Board System’.

22. Craig, Software Piracy Exposed.

23. Boyd and Ellison, ‘Social Network Sites’.

24. Rivlin, ‘Wallflower At The Web Party’.

25. Boyd and Ellison, ‘Social Network Sites’.

26. Nielsen Company, ‘Led by Facebook, Twitter, Global Time Spent on Social Media Sites up 82% Year over Year’.

27. One important limit of this approach is that many street gangs and criminal groups will not go by a particular name even though they operate as a collective. Such groups would not be detected by this study's search.

28. A flamewar or flaming is an aggressive and often escalating exchange of messages over the Internet, whether on forums, emails, chats, or blog comments.

29. Morselli, Contacts, Opportunities, and Criminal Enterprise.

30. Reuter, Disorganized Crime.

31. Felson, ‘The Process of Co-offending’.

32. Stevens, ‘Wanted in Montreal: One Social Media Cop’.

33. Couture, ‘Policing Gang Activity in Regina’.

34. Masterman, ‘Employing Social Media in the Fight Against Crime’.

35. CTV, ‘Internet Using Social Media to Go After Most Wanted’.

36. Muessig, ‘Tweets is Watching – Street Gangs Using Twitter’.