The Guardian has published a new special report on the ‘happy slapping’ craze, which I covered a while back in my blog post, which has since become the most popular page on this blog, attracting a staggering 45,000 hits.
The guardian article quotes some of the comments people have posted to my blog post (though it describes this blog as a ‘London community web forum’…), and reports that the fad is now a ‘nationwide phenomonen’, with attacks becoming increasingly violent.
Across the web, Engadget, picturephoning and smart mobs have all picked up on the Guardian story. An older post from the mobile weblog links the craze with the Tango ads, but I’m not so convinced about that.
If teachers, journalists or members of the public have any reports on this craze taking place, please leave a comment below.
Update: girlfriend of TV presenter Matthew Wright victim of happy slap attack, the BBC reports.
ryu said:
It gets worse when people can publish their photos and videos instantly to the web from their camera phones in real time?
Have you seen MobilePUP? It allows you to get the photos of your mobile phone and onto the web. Its free and works in any phone…
Heres the link,MobilePUP, ive been using it for about 1 week… :)
Brauer said:
Nice piece Frankie. Liked the first post and the reaction you got from the ‘slappers’ and ‘slapper-haters’. It is still going on in my community in south London.
See Happy Slappy Sociology
Martin said:
It should be treated very seriously by the courts like road rage,
your blog is great i will be bookmarking it
i also run a blog phonesonthenet.blogspot.com and a website PhonesOnTheNet.co.uk
Please check it out sometime
mobile phones said:
This is an extremely sick craze and very difficult to apprehend the culprits and for the law to prosecute. It is looked upon as public disorder and affray and serious penalty when prosecuted. The previous comment mentions instant uploads to websites, these uploads should be monitored, however how do you know they are for real??
Kingpin said:
Everyone has rights, so let the slapper’s slap…and I’ll exercise my right of self-defense when I pull out my blade and shank the little bastard and his buddies like pigs in a slaughter house. Remember me next time you slap someone…and don’t forget to smile =)