At the height of the riots, when police and intelligence officials knew that mobile devices and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook were being used to coordinate aspects of the violence, British governmental leaders began contemplating ways to limit their use. This was nothing entirely new, as British government leaders had previously contemplated ways to monitor and restrict access to such sites and to monitor related communications as early as 2008. Ironically, it is these very tools — and widespread public access to them — that helped to drive pro-democracy movements in Egypt earlier this year, and which we often laud as being at the forefront of public opinion.

Now, however, the question is whether the protections built in to services like BlackBerry Messenger, and the simple availability of social media tools at large, are a potential threat to the governnment's ability to keep public order. With access to tools of this nature that can help to promote and distribute legitimate leadership messages comes the need to use them wisely, and with some semblance of societal responsibility.

Unfortunately, the same tool that can distribute a message of support for societal leadership can also be used for ill... it's only a few keystrokes from "Support democracy in Egypt!" to "Come steal a mobile at the riot!"

The reality of the situation is that, unless each of us takes responsibility for our actions (a true measure of personal societal leadership), then we risk running into these types of situations where the government (potentially ANY government) fears how the tool might be used against it. This is the very thinking that leads to a "big brother" mentality within society, and which gives tacit permission to political leaders to take a tough stance on tools of this sort.

Be wise with your social media!