Adopt a Granny! Adopt a Grandad! Adopt any Technophobe!

Never mind the penguins, there are people near you with no knowledge of the internet who inevitably are on a route to extinction. They equally deserve your concern. You can look after the penguins as well of course.

People left behind, whatever their age are more at risk, their isolation can render them vulnerable. The horror stories we hear are not acceptable. Certain individuals are already befriending elderly residents for sinister purposes. When they have wormed their way into a trusted position they recommend people to carry out repairs at extortionate prices. Tens of thousands of pounds can be taken from a single victim. Whether young or old, nobody should have to go through the experience of an intruder entering their home and taking what they want. Being aware and instantly able to communicate suspicious activity is our main line of defense. If a burglar really wants to break in to your property, no amount of security will stop them. Think Meerkat. Think Granny, and Think Penguin!

Safety in numbers: Meerkats work as a team with some keeping lookout, thereby allowing others to forage and dig.

What's in it for you? The elderly neighbour is probably in whilst you are out. Whole villages are left empty when people leave for work. No matter if they are batty or cantankerous or sweet and wise they could be the only set of eyes that sees a burglar entering or leaving your house and can provide vital evidence. It is irrelevant in a court of law if you know who the perpetrator is, if they don't leave any physical evidence and get away unseen they cannot be convicted. Burglars wear gloves, they rarely leave evidence, if you are lucky they will leave a footprint or accidentally provide DNA.

You never know, what a conversation may lead too. Your neighbour's relative could be visiting and turn out to be the love of your life, they may have an idea for a multi-million pound invention, they may just feed the cat whilst you go on holiday. It is still a small world and with the help of the internet we are close to being artificially telepathic with anyone who has access to the internet. Even if you are apathetic and hardened by life's experience, make sure it isn't your relative being conned. The thieves are stealing your family's inheritance

If you know an endangered species in your family or street, help get them up to speed. Maybe you could even organise an event with hot drinks and biscuits for a group of technophobes in your area. Many libraries already offer free classes for sociable types. If you are unable to adopt, try to keep others updated of crime alerts that may be of concern.

First they need an internet service provider. Many companies provide internet at little extra cost than phone line rental, you may even be able to get someone a cheaper phone deal with internet included. If they are hard of hearing you could ask to speak on their behalf to set up the service. If they cannot afford a landline, you could share an ISP account or Internet connection with a neighbor, friend, or family member, this could lead to benefits in return. You each may have something the other needs. In exchange for the service, they could offer to take out your rubbish if you are away or receive a delivery that is due over a 24 hour period that would ordinarily result in you taking a day off work. Don't forget to check if they are near a free internet WiFi hotspot.

If you are on a contract and regularly receive updated mobile phones why not donate your old phone to someone who hasn't got one. Buy a voucher on their behalf whilst they learn the ropes, or pop in a pay-as-you-go top up card. If your computer is obsolete, could you find someone local to donate it to? Maybe there is a local business or school getting rid of perfectly adequate computers, if all you need to do is go on Facebook or Twitter.

Be aware, hearing loss creeps up on people and they learn to adapt, not realising they are disabled. Set the sound settings on mobiles to maximum and the ringtone to vibrate. If you know someone who is hard of hearing let them know they are eligible for many free adapted products such as alarms that vibrate under your pillow to alert you to an intruder or fire whilst you are asleep.

A mobile phone can be a lifeline if it is carried on your person and you have a fall, and cannot get to the landline to call for help. An increasing number of people are succumbing to dementia and Alzheimers. If they carry a phone they could potentially be tracked by GPS if they leave their homes and get lost. This could have been somebody's million pound invention, inspired by adopting a local person, but it's too late, a GPS bracelet or watch for vulnerable citizens is already available if you want one.

It is hard to expect a senior citizen to be on Facebook if they can’t afford to heat their home. Photograph: MBI /Alamy

So now they have internet access, and a device to receive it. First they need virus protection and next they need an email. There is free virus protection software available for download, such as AVG. Make sure you click the free option and always check or uncheck your options that supply you with hidden extras you may not require.

Once this is sorted you can introduce them to social media. This can be a real gift, it's not just about information and alerts that help protect us from crimes. The brain is often referred to as a muscle and exercising it in new ways keeps it young. The internet can literally give someone a new lease of life by opening up a world of interest and new skills. You can read an excellent article about this by 90 year old, Harry Leslie Smith, here. It can alleviate feelings of isolation and depression, give people a reason to get up on a cold winter's morning if only to check their updates. Reconnect with relatives on the other side of the world, or see a grandchild's prom photos. The possibilities are endless. They will soon be taking photos on their newly acquired mobile phones and learn to upload them onto Flickr and Instagram..

If they don't want to be bothered by updates on their timeline by a friend on Facebook, of potty training and teenage squabbles, or are annoyed by chain-letter like memes professing the love of one Sister to another and such like, you can hover over a friend's name with the mouse and uncheck show in newsfeed, you don't have to unfriend them. People sending game alerts can easily be turned off by hovering over the notification to play on the right hand side. Click the X and turn off notifications. On Twitter it is very easy to just unfollow.

Once they have joined social media, it's important to adjust their privacy settings on Facebook so that only their friends can see their updates and photographs. Now you can add them to their local Social Media Against Crime group or a similar site. In no time you will have helped create another silver surfer and valuable member of an online community. I know from experience, in fact my 82 year old mother is just about to like and share this post, come on Mum, where are you ?

A Positive Reaction.

When a crime happens to you it forces you to deal with difficult emotions and circumstances. Disbelief and shock initially serve to protect you, slowing down the ingestion of what has become your new reality. As the full consequences begin to dawn, it is natural to feel anger at the injustice of your new predicament. It's important to utilise this passion and transform the event into something positive before fear serves to immobilise and dissociate you. It's too late to change what happened, but you can be better prepared for future possibilities and use your insights to warn others.

The internet has opened up our world, removing many physical restrictions and allowing one person to connect and communicate with the rest of humanity from the comfort of their own living room. This new power can be used for good and bad, and we constantly have to strive to keep up and also protect ourselves from online crime. A good source of information, can be found on BBC Click, a comprehensive guide to all the latest gadgets, websites, games and computer industry news.

Information is now shared openly, the criminals already know, and it's the rest of us that need to get up to speed. We are all part of the problem and the solution. Even criminals do not want other people committing crimes on their doorstep. A wider outlook that encompasses everybody's doorstep is a possibility with the communication available through social media.

Volunteers near Clapham Junction station wait to be allowed to help with the cleanup operation following riots the previous night. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Retreating into escapism, can give temporary shelter to help you on your way through difficult times, but ultimately awareness and clarity are a necessity. We need to get real, and live your life before the rest of the cast dies. To take hold of your life, whatever it is, before time takes it from you. You may have been made a victim, you may have suffered great loss, but others cannot not take away your smile or your will/soul, whatever you choose to call it, that and your reaction are always yours.

Personal circumstances may leave you restricted as to what positive changes you can make outside the home. The potential of social media however is vast. It is fast, effective and free. In response to the London riots, Twitter was used to organise a clean up operation. An excellent example of social media being used as a tool to organise individuals who want to claim back their community and the streets where they live. The instigator of the Twitter cleanup project, Dan Thompson, recently delivered this TEDx talk about placeshaking, a term for individuals inspiring communities and redefining the places where we live.

Before discovering this video, I had been thinking about my own town and how I had never felt particularly attached to it. It is a typical market town with little outward evidence of historical interest. An online search to unearth something interesting about it led to the revelation that there are in fact many interesting things and stories of ordinary citizens, past and present. So many things that I decided to share them on an additional Facebook page.

From revelation to re-evaluation, it has given me a new perspective and dare I say, an ironic and then heartfelt sense of pride, for a commonplace area that was taken for granted. Just as we tend to fantasise about our lives rather than stare harsh reality in the face, we also tend to daydream of being somewhere else rather than truly looking at where we are and engaging with it. It seems to me that reconnecting with our environment can help with an overall solution towards crime. People only want to hear about bad news for so long, and then they are likely to move on. Cultivating interest leads to a natural progression towards enduring worth and caring.

After being burgled recently, my first response was to go on Facebook and inform my friends, to warn them and also to lessen the burden of what had happened through their instant sympathy and understanding. I needed someone to listen and acknowledge the unfairness. I also wanted information and asked the small number of my local friends to share my status, to discover who had come into my family's home whilst we slept and taken what they wanted and then the following night broken into my mother's house. I did discover who the perpetrator was and why they are doing it, and also other people in my area to be aware of, but there is no concrete evidence to convict them. Social media gives you the option to remain anonymous and share sensitive details privately and it is important to note that publishing names online can later lead to civil action if you are mistaken. The purpose of this project is not scaremongering of vigilantism. It's about providing a support system that is there to listen in real time and look out for you, replacing the sense of community that has been lost whilst still retaining the personal space we have become accustomed to.

Although awareness of the local community to the individual committing burglary in my own town has not yet led to a conviction, it has acted as a deterrent. It has also led to the realisation, that a network was required that reaches out across the entire region, and was the catalyst that has formed Social Media Against Crime, a tool that can be used by anyone if and when they need it. It's about small steps, we can all do, you never know what it will lead to. Already I am in talks with the police and crime commissioner for Derbyshire, and Neighborhood Watch to fund awareness of this project to cover the whole of Derbyshire. There is no reason why every county and even country cannot do the same. I will soon be publishing a downloadable leaflet that can be printed and given to nearby residents.

I will end this post with another TEDx video, this time by the amazing Anna, otherwise known as @heardinlondon on Twitter. I hope this inspires you as much as it has me today.

Building your online community.

 

At first it can seem an impossible task to build followers for a new Twitter account or inform Facebook users other than your friends of a new group. It is all a question of time, if you persevere it will happen. Obviously it does depend on content but I believe using social media against crime will prove to be popular with everyone. All you need is the people and businesses in the nearby vicinity to be aware your group exists. If you have friends, relatives or neighbors who are not familiar with social media you could follow or join on their behalf and keep them updated.

The reason for starting this campaign is a recent spate of four burglaries on my street in a week, including my own and a relatives. I live in a typical town and had been blissfully unaware of the crime in my area but this left us vulnerable and unprepared. All neighborhoods experience crime, the idea is not to be alarmist but to be enabled. After being burgled in the middle of the night whilst we slept it became apparent that the main advantage the criminals had was surprise and confidence and the main problem in identifying possible suspects could be a lack of coordination and communication. Knowledge is power, and awareness and preparation are our best defense. I am not happy that all decent residents can do is wait and worry to see who will be next. 

Now I have been made a victim I have been added to a Neighborhood Watch scheme. This is great and I am intending to include this and the local police force with social media against crime. The combination of all three could be a winning formula. However, previous to this incident there is no way I would have thought to be involved voluntarily. Today's society is already time stretched. If you have a young family you are probably already maxed out on meetings, events and fund raising demands. The sense of community people had years ago has been eroded and many of us are averse to coming across as nosy or interfering. We no longer have the luxury of a local bobby who knows everyone. This creates a certain isolation with us all in our own separate boxes, caught up in our own affairs which has created an advantage for criminals. 

Social media can enable people to form a network of eyes and ears working as one in real time for mutual benefit. Participants can choose to go about their usual days remaining largely anonymous and hopefully never need to use the service. Equally, if you are so inclined it could be a way to get to know people nearby, reforming lost communities. It can be whatever you want it to be without obligation. 

I chose to set up a Facebook page to highlight the potential of social media on a international level, connect groups that wish to be linked and to share affordable and simple tips on home security. I have also set up a Twitter account and Facebook group for my local area, as groups notify members by default when there is a new post or alert. Also group members can participate in chats, upload photos to shared albums such as lost and found, missing pets, stolen property or public safety issues (burned out lights, overgrown walkways, abandoned cars, broken windows and so on). In addition to an open setting, groups have more privacy settings. In closed groups, posts are only visible to group members and secret groups could be useful if you live in a high crime area and want to remain anonymous, inviting only people you trust.

After thinking about the various options I think an open group may be the way forward if you are targeting a larger area. It would be easier to include local businesses and schools and spread the net further. It's important to try and include local businesses, especially the service industry workers such as, restaurants, milkmen, taxi firms, corner shops, checkout operators and cleaners. These people are often the last ones going home at night or starting early in the morning and can be your best eyes and ears. Inform local newspapers that you have started an online community for your area. Publicising you are a member of a social media against crime group could act as a deterrent against becoming a target of crime. I want potential burglars to know that the residents of my street can report their activity in an instant.  

A note to all - when posting alerts to your group or Twitter be mindful about posting information that feeds details on your short comings in personal security. This is the very thing criminals use to help them identify weaknesses:

1. Share crime incident descriptions and descriptions of perpetrators. Give the street name but not the address.

2. Private message nearby neighbors if you want to inform them you are going away so they can be extra vigilant. Think about posting holiday news or days out onto social network sites after you have returned.

3. Check out your current Facebook privacy settings. If they are open or you do not personally know all your Facebook friends consider turning off your location settings on your posts and photos. Be extra careful when using social networks such as Foursquare.

 We will be designing a window sticker that can be downloaded and a leaflet so that you can inform your neighbors if you start a group. Also posters for supermarket notice boards and local businesses to display. There is strength in numbers and I believe the more people involved the better the results. The whole point is that it is simple, quick and free. This is a brand new venture and we are open to ideas to make it a effective tool against crime. Please leave your comments and share any ideas with us. Whether you are living in a busy city or rural community we can make this work.