ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on one of the challenges in particular, namely, the links between gang-related activity in the virtual world and gang-related violence in the real world. It takes a thematic approach to reviewing the extant literature in this area, highlighting various forms of social media content that have been linked to gang-related violence in real life. Although online social media platforms emerged in the 1990s, it was not until the early years of the 21st century that user numbers began to expand rapidly. Data from surveys, interviews and Internet content analyses confirm that gangs are online and using social media. Gang members can post the equivalent of graffiti on rivals’ Facebook walls or Twitter feeds, for instance, send messages and emails that denigrate other gangs, or infiltrate rival webpages and disrupt their chat forums. Such actions are examples of ‘internet banging’ that can potentially escalate gang hostilities and stimulate violent retaliation in the real world.
