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Greater Manchester Police was not the only police force to take advantage of social media during last month's rioting, which was sparked by the fatal shooting of 29 year old Mark Duggan by armed Metropolitan Police officers.

However, no other force quite emulated the success of Greater Manchester Police, which uploaded a video showing assistant chief constable Garry Shewan making an arrest made possible by a photo on its Flickr page that allowed the criminal to be identified as part of 'Operation Valant Arrest'.

The video was accompanied by the triumphant tweet: 'We said we were coming for you! Youtu.be/r8oUwuJIrEo.' The force has also vowed to name and shame rioters by tweeting their name, date of birth and the area in which they were arrested.

Hundreds of looters and rioters have already been arrested as a direct result of various social media-related operations.

The Metropolitan Police has launched an online gallery containing images of those convicted for their part in the riots. Each photograph is accompanied by the name, age, address of those convicted, along with the details of their crime and sentence received. The Met Police also used Flickr extensively in the immediate aftermath of the riots as part of its 'London Disorder - Operation Withern' strategy in the hope that members of the public would help identify looters.

It posted 239 photographs and six videos, each containing a unique reference code and other information relating to the crime. For example, photograph S232 says: '8 August, Handling stolen goods and burglary, Croydon'.

Police commander Simon Foy said: 'We have made these pictures available so that communities across London can see that those who took part in the appalling scenes which shocked us all have been brought to justice.'

During the rioting and its immediate aftermath, many people turned to the Met Police's Twitter account, @metpoliceuk, to get up-to-date information on the situation. Its number of followers more than doubled to almost 42,000 within ten days of Duggan's shooting.

The riots hit Birmingham hard and the police were out in force on the streets of the city. Birmingham Police's Twitter followers increased between 25 July and 13 August by 5,780 followers.

The West Midlands Police also had a noticeable social media presence during the riots, increasing its Twitter followers from 8,010 on 29 July to almost 25,000 by 16 August. It is running an online rogues gallery on its website. The 'Operation View' project contains photographs in order by date and areas but, as arrests get made, the image is replaced by a silhouette with the word 'ARRESTED'. For example, out of nine images posted under the heading '9 August 2011 - Wolverhampton City Centre', seven had been replaced as at 30 August with silhouettes.

The police force has also used a 'Digi Van', equipped with a large screen displaying images of suspects, through Birmingham. The van stopped at key locations to give shoppers and commuters a good look at the photographs in the hope that they could identify the suspects.

In the aftermath of the rioting, West Midlands Police has launched an online survey to find out how the disturbances impacted residents and also to assess their opinion on the way the force handled the situation.

But it was not just those forces caught up in the rioting that benefited from an uplift in social media followers. While Essex was not affected by riots, the number of followers for its Twitter account more than doubled from fewer than 4,000 followers in July to 9,730 by 23 August.

In the aftermath of the rioting, the force also announced 'a robust approach to anyone who uses social networking sites to stimulate fictitious rumours'. As a result, Essex Police charged several people, including a 20 year old Colchester man who allegedly sent messages from a BlackBerry encouraging people to gather for a water fight, and two teenagers who used Facebook to encourage people to gather at an Essex location 'and cause disorder'.

Similarly, South Yorkshire Police saw its followers on Twitter more than treble from around 3,000 to more than 9,300 in less than two weeks as it provided round-the-clock updates during the riots. Police officers also monitored social media but failed to find anybody trying to incite disturbances.

Charles Perryman, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Authority, said: 'It appears that, while social media tools have been blamed by some for helping to organise disturbances in other parts of the country, they have been a definite success story here in South Yorkshire for all involved - the public, the police force and the Police Authority.'

Metropolitan Police @metpoliceuk - Tweeting since 19/08/09

• Followers 41,912
• Following 10
• Tweets 674
• 21/06/11: 2,860 followers
• 09/08/11: 18,620 followers
• 18/08/11: 41,910 followers
• Flickr account: London Disorder -
• Operation Withern

Greater Manchester Police @gmpolice - Tweeting since 25/02/09

• Followers 101,189
• Following 267
• Tweets 7,337
• 02/08/11: 22,910 followers
• 10/08/11: 67,810 followers
• 18/08/11: 101,190 followers
• Flickr account: GMP-Wanted

Birmingham Police @brumpolice - Tweeting since 24/11/10

• Followers 7,412
• Following 147
• Tweets 1,710
• 25/07/11: 1,740 followers
• 13/08/11: 7,520 followers

Merseyside Police @merseypolice - Tweeting since 01/04/09

• Followers 15,915
• Following 37
• Tweets 1,921
• 20/03/11: 3,130 followers
• 12/08/11: 15,570 followers

West Midlands Police @wmpolice - Tweeting since 15/12/08

• Followers 24,695
• Following 162
• Tweets 2,662
• 29/07/11: 8,010 followers
• 09/08/11: 15,570 followers
• 16/08/11: 24,710 followers
• 'Operation View' site exposes rioters

Sussex Police @sussex_police - Tweeting since 19/07/09

• Followers 10,049
• Following 194
• Tweets 2,621
• 20/03/11: 2,700 followers
• 10/08/11: 9,010 followers
• 18/08/11: 10,050 followers

Timeline:

Thursday 4 August: Fatal shooting of Mark Duggan

Saturday 6 August: Peaceful protest begins at Broadwater Farm and finishes at Tottenham police station. Riots break out in Tottenham, Tottenham Hale and Wood Green after police officers would not come out to address the protestors

Sunday 7 August: Riots spread to Enfield, Islington and Walthamstow

Monday 8 August: Rioting and looting spread across London, with hotspots in Clapham, Ealing, Hackney, Lewisham and Peckham. In Croydon, a 26 year old man is found shot dead in a car, while House of Reeves furniture store goes up in flames

Tuesday 9 August: 16,000 policemen are brought in to keep London's streets in order. Riots move to Birmingham, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham

Wednesday 10 August: Murder investigation is launched in Birmingham after two men are killed in a hit and run. Third man later dies in hospital. Rioting dies down but arrests continue. Looting continues in Manchester and Liverpool

Thursday 11 August: Police leave cancelled and parliament recalled to debate situation

Monday 15 August: To date, 3,100 arrests and more than 1,000 rioters charged

Click here to read how Greater Manchester Police handled the riots

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