In my last past I spoke of how essentially anonymous people were getting together on Facebook and collaborating. In this case, I was referring to the creation of content around a developing meme.

Now we can take things to the next level, where collaboration is helping to solve crime. The case in point is the Missing Kane Dadson Facebook Group.

Now sitting at over 3,000 members, through the power of collaboration people have been able to work faster than the police investigation in gathering clues. Suggestions and comments posted on the wall have lead to spreading word of mouth and opened up new information that can be used by police.

Last year in a similar situation, members of the group Missing Britt Lapthorn uploaded photos related to the case that other people were able to tag which lead to new leads of questioning. The group still has 18,000 members.

Social media is more than just brands trying to engage with consumers. Or a group of people creating their own lolcats. Social media has more potential than I think anyone realises.