Facebook Groups Form amid Vancouver Rioting
(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)
At the same moment crazed Vancouver Canucks fans were literally tearing their beautiful city apart following last night’s 4-0 Stanley Cup Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins, more level-headed citizens were using social media, forming Facebook (News - Alert) groups to rally together a clean-up crew, and to try to identify the hooligans.
For several hours following the series-ending loss, rioters broke windows, overturned cars, looted stores and even burned police cars.
Fans opposed to the behavior jumped to action, expressing their opinions online.
One Facebook group, encouraging followers to post photos and videos of rioters committing crimes, has attracted more than 22,000 people.
“This is a GREAT forum! To those fools that thought, ‘Oh I'll just light a car on fire’, SAY CHEESE... someone’s going to recognize you!! They all just thought they'd get away with it!” Laura Archambault Dunn wrote on the group’s Facebook wall.
“You truly are NOT hockey fans...This is just a game..I am ashamed to be a CANADIAN,” wrote Sonia Kucharonok.
A second Facebook group, already boasting nearly 12,000 members early Thursday, called for residents to join in the clean-up effort.
“Once the embarrassing rioting has ended in Vancouver let's all show the world what Vancouver is really about by helping rebuild and clean up so it is better than it was before,” said group creator, Smitty Smith. “If any city can bounce back from an embarrassment like this it is Vancouver!”
Twitter was also abuzz with comments regarding the rioting.
“Watching Vancouver riots is nauseating,” tweeted @LadyProducer_SN. “Maybe throw a remote like the rest of us when you're mad instead of setting your own city ablaze.”
The clean-up effort is expected to take days.
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John Lahtinen is Community Development Editor for TMCnet. He has more than 15 years of combined professional and educational experience involving news, education, and marketing. John holds a master's degree in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
