Seeing a riot through the eyes of Twitter

On Saturday night I was up until about 3am. I was watching the whole Fleming Drive riot go down via Twitter and was captivated. I couldn't believe that something like this was actually happening beside the school I had just graduated from last year. I loved my time at Fanshawe College. I went there for Communications and Public Relations and learned a lot from the program. I never encountered any crazy people trying to set things on fire. Everyone at the school, although sometimes rowdy, seemed normal.

I do remember last year's St. Patrick's Day. Class ended at around 11am, and we thought it was an awesome idea to go to the school bar and hang out. My classmates and I didn't go there to get trashed. We went there to celebrate school coming to an end. To enjoy each other's company for what we thought would be one of the last times. We stayed in the bar all afternoon and watched our good friend win the Student Union elections as Student Union President. Shortly after that, I decided to go home. It was just before dinner, and I noticed students stumbling around. But again, nothing too crazy. On the bus ride home there were a lot of students dressed in green and there was a lot of laughter on the bus. It was just good fun.

Now fast forward to a year later. This St. Patrick's Day was different. First off, it was on a Saturday. Well, that's just a sign of trouble there. Everyone had the day off, and from what I saw on Twitter, people were starting to drink from the moment they woke up. It was also a very warm day. Like, summer warm. Another sign of trouble for St. Paddy's Day.

I opted to stay at home that day. I got a little restless and decided to go for a bike ride. It was gorgeous out! I rode around, smiled at others on their bikes or walking their dogs. It was lovely. I decided to see what downtown was like. Well, if you know anything about London, Ontario, you would know that most of the bars are on Richmond Row. And boy, was it ever crowded. I had to get off of my bike and walk it. There was just this sea of green. I couldn't believe the amount of people on Richmond. It smelled like alcohol and sweat. It was no longer a lovely bike ride and I began to fear that some drunken person might see me and my bike and decide to steal it (I have had 2 bikes stolen already...so I'm not that paranoid about this). So I left the very crowded downtown and went back home.

Now fast forward to about 11:30 that night. I see the first tweet come up from the London Free Press about a car on fire near Fanshawe College. I immediately thought...rut roh. ALL of those people who were drunk at 2pm are still drunk...and they're now a billion times worse...and they're in a crowd...and they're near the school I really really enjoy. Great. I stayed glued to Twitter for hours that night. Getting the latest updates from reporters who were on the scene and from actual rioters. I couldn't believe the arrogance of some of these people. One rioter bragged about flipping the CTV suv. That one tweet got retweeted, and retweeted and retweeted. He later deleted his tweets when he realised how angry the community was and the trouble he could get in.

This is the awesomeness that Twitter is. I was able to get the latest updates about what was happening. From videos to pictures to just general tweets. And from there I was able to participate in the general disgust that Fanshawe grads and Londoners felt towards what was happening. The next morning I tweeted a general question asking what Fleming Drive looked like that morning. Two people responded with the latest pictures to me within minutes. Twitter keeps us updated and connected to each other. When crisis happens within our community, we're able to reach out to one another and talk about what's happening. Never before have we all been connected in this way.

The Fleming Drive riots may have been a huge embarrassment for the school and for London. But I think it also brought us closer together as a community. Most Fanshawe Alumni are outraged by what happened, but we have all been able to find each other on Twitter and talk about what's happened.

Fanshawe College is also in crazy damage control. I received an email from them talking about how Fanshawe is still a great college and how great its grads are....and also, just to remind others of those facts...you know...in case it comes up in conversation. Nothing is more powerful than word of mouth. So here are my thoughts: I really did enjoy my time at Fanshawe College. What happened was just a reflection of a small group of people. Yes, Fanshawe students were present, but let's not forget the other major institution that's in London. I'm pretty sure Western U students were also there...as well as students from the surrounding high schools. This wasn't a Fanshawe riot...it was just a dumb, drunken, stupid people riot. Fanshawe rocks and I'm still proud to be a Fanshawe grad.

I just hope next St. Paddy's will be different. Let's keep it toned down next year, okay?