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Citizen cops: don't write them off just yet
EDITORIAL
LOCATIONS UK Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250 Australia Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552 USA 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451 Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217 201 Mission Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel +1 415 908 3348 Fax +1 415 704 3125 Subscription Service For our latest subscription offers, visit newscientist.com/subscribe Customer and subscription services are also available by: Telephone +44 (0) 844 543 80 70 Email [email protected] Web newscientist.com/subscribe Post New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH One year subscription (51 issues) UK £150 cONTACTS Contact us newscientist.com/contact Who’s who newscientist.com/people General & media enquiries Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] Editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268 Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1291 [email protected] Recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 4444 [email protected] UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3333 Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 OSU Syndication Tribune Media Services International Tel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588
Don’t write off citizen cops Crowdsourced policing could work, with the right checks and balances AFTER the chaos of the explosions Mainstream opinion is convinced came the shambles of the amateur amateurs have no business manhunt. Within hours of two playing cops and bombers and bombs going off at the finishing that policing might be one line of the Boston marathon, job where a prefix of “citizen” self-appointed sleuths were doesn’t belong. poring over images posted on But let’s not rush to judgement social media looking for suspects. and waste a possible opportunity. They identified plenty. None of If harnessed properly, them were the bombers. crowdsourcing could become an This “internet vigilantism” has rightly attracted opprobrium. “Perhaps the only positive outcome was to reveal Dozens of innocent bystanders the amount of good will were smeared, many of them that exists out there” simply because of their skin colour – what one commentator called a game of “racist Where’s effective adjunct to conventional Wally”. Some of the unfairly police work (see page 8). accused feared for their lives. One reason it went so badly Shamefully, elements of the wrong was that Reddit, the social mainstream media jumped on media site hosting most of the the bandwagon. action, was not designed for And so the first big solving crimes. But it is not hard experiment in technologically to imagine social media tools crowdsourced law enforcement being modified for the purpose, ended in disgrace and failure. with appropriate safeguards
built in. Indeed, such tools are already in the works. Perhaps the only positive outcome of the fiasco was to reveal the enormous amount of goodwill that exists out there. Ordinary citizens gave their time for free trying to do the right thing (though many were probably glory hunters). The fact that it spiralled out of control does not negate that. The reputation of crowdsourced sleuthing is in the gutter for now, but human nature being what it is we surely haven’t seen the last of it. Next time a major crime is committed under the gaze of social media, citizen sleuths need to learn lessons – or do irreparable damage to a promising technology. Specifically, they need to accept that while crowds sometimes have wisdom, they also have a nasty habit of turning into mobs. n
Wake up and smell… 20 people affected – more than are visually impaired – the condition is responsible for an awful lot of human misery. One of the reasons anosmia is so devastating is a lack of awareness. Doctors often assume nothing can be done and send patients away to suffer in silence (see page 32). Research is low priority and funding for treatment is scarce.
Yet many cases are treatable with cheap drugs. Given the economic and human costs of depression, treating anosmia may even save money in the long run. Loss of smell is never going to tug at the heartstrings like breast cancer or other high-profile causes. But an awareness campaign aimed at doctors and patients wouldn’t hurt. Anosmics of the world unite – you have nothing to lose but a world without flavour. n
looking for to take up a paid six-month traineeship with the subediting team at our central London office. As well as a degree in science or technology and a passion for explaining scientific ideas, you will have an excellent grasp
of English, impeccable spelling and the persistence to hunt down that very last typo in a story. To apply please go to bitly.com/SubbingIntern, where you will find full instructions. The closing date is 31 May 2013.
LOSING your sense of taste or smell might not rank very high on the list of things to worry about. Going blind or deaf would surely be worse. Yet anosmia, as it is called, has a disproportionately negative effect. Deprived of the pleasure of eating and drinking, anosmics often descend into depression. With around 1 in
Wordsmiths required © 2013 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Colchester)
CAN you pick out the flaws in a muddled argument? Do you have a knack for giving pedestrian prose the sparkle that will turn it into a compelling read? If so, you may be the talented person New Scientist is
27 April 2013 | NewScientist | 5
LOCATIONS UK Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250 Australia Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552 USA 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451 Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217 201 Mission Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel +1 415 908 3348 Fax +1 415 704 3125 Subscription Service For our latest subscription offers, visit newscientist.com/subscribe Customer and subscription services are also available by: Telephone +44 (0) 844 543 80 70 Email [email protected] Web newscientist.com/subscribe Post New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH One year subscription (51 issues) UK £150 cONTACTS Contact us newscientist.com/contact Who’s who newscientist.com/people General & media enquiries Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] Editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268 Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1291 [email protected] Recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 4444 [email protected] UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3333 Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 OSU Syndication Tribune Media Services International Tel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588
Don’t write off citizen cops Crowdsourced policing could work, with the right checks and balances AFTER the chaos of the explosions Mainstream opinion is convinced came the shambles of the amateur amateurs have no business manhunt. Within hours of two playing cops and bombers and bombs going off at the finishing that policing might be one line of the Boston marathon, job where a prefix of “citizen” self-appointed sleuths were doesn’t belong. poring over images posted on But let’s not rush to judgement social media looking for suspects. and waste a possible opportunity. They identified plenty. None of If harnessed properly, them were the bombers. crowdsourcing could become an This “internet vigilantism” has rightly attracted opprobrium. “Perhaps the only positive outcome was to reveal Dozens of innocent bystanders the amount of good will were smeared, many of them that exists out there” simply because of their skin colour – what one commentator called a game of “racist Where’s effective adjunct to conventional Wally”. Some of the unfairly police work (see page 8). accused feared for their lives. One reason it went so badly Shamefully, elements of the wrong was that Reddit, the social mainstream media jumped on media site hosting most of the the bandwagon. action, was not designed for And so the first big solving crimes. But it is not hard experiment in technologically to imagine social media tools crowdsourced law enforcement being modified for the purpose, ended in disgrace and failure. with appropriate safeguards
built in. Indeed, such tools are already in the works. Perhaps the only positive outcome of the fiasco was to reveal the enormous amount of goodwill that exists out there. Ordinary citizens gave their time for free trying to do the right thing (though many were probably glory hunters). The fact that it spiralled out of control does not negate that. The reputation of crowdsourced sleuthing is in the gutter for now, but human nature being what it is we surely haven’t seen the last of it. Next time a major crime is committed under the gaze of social media, citizen sleuths need to learn lessons – or do irreparable damage to a promising technology. Specifically, they need to accept that while crowds sometimes have wisdom, they also have a nasty habit of turning into mobs. n
Wake up and smell… 20 people affected – more than are visually impaired – the condition is responsible for an awful lot of human misery. One of the reasons anosmia is so devastating is a lack of awareness. Doctors often assume nothing can be done and send patients away to suffer in silence (see page 32). Research is low priority and funding for treatment is scarce.
Yet many cases are treatable with cheap drugs. Given the economic and human costs of depression, treating anosmia may even save money in the long run. Loss of smell is never going to tug at the heartstrings like breast cancer or other high-profile causes. But an awareness campaign aimed at doctors and patients wouldn’t hurt. Anosmics of the world unite – you have nothing to lose but a world without flavour. n
looking for to take up a paid six-month traineeship with the subediting team at our central London office. As well as a degree in science or technology and a passion for explaining scientific ideas, you will have an excellent grasp
of English, impeccable spelling and the persistence to hunt down that very last typo in a story. To apply please go to bitly.com/SubbingIntern, where you will find full instructions. The closing date is 31 May 2013.
LOSING your sense of taste or smell might not rank very high on the list of things to worry about. Going blind or deaf would surely be worse. Yet anosmia, as it is called, has a disproportionately negative effect. Deprived of the pleasure of eating and drinking, anosmics often descend into depression. With around 1 in
Wordsmiths required © 2013 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Colchester)
CAN you pick out the flaws in a muddled argument? Do you have a knack for giving pedestrian prose the sparkle that will turn it into a compelling read? If so, you may be the talented person New Scientist is
27 April 2013 | NewScientist | 5