In very strange circumstances, last week showed how big a tool social media can play in the part of life and the city of Brighton.

On Monday afternoon there were reports that a child had been abducted from Churchill Square.

The first I knew of the incident, was on one of my best friend’s Instagram stories. Looking back at the timescales, she had shared it less than five minutes after the first reports. Within minutes, at least seven friends had shared the breaking news on Facebook, and maybe 40 of the 100 latest tweets on my timeline were helping spread the story.

Twenty minutes after the first reports, the story was on local news, national news, radio, TV and every kind of social media platform, from people of all walks of like. Police helicopters patrolled the skies above the city, while officers on foot were everywhere from busy streets, to opening the boot of every car leaving the mall car parks.

As the landlord of a pub, within a five minute walk of Churchill Square, I was also on the look out for the actual two people in question, in case they walked past or came in.

As it turned out it was a false alarm. No children had even been reported missing, which was both baffling and tremendous news. I can’t imagine what a parent would go through in that awful situation.

What had actually happened was a stroppy three-year-old was throwing a tantrum like kids do, so her father picked her up and took her home. How that turned in to a full scale police hunt, is beyond me. When a huge operation like that is in full swing, who foots the bill?

The other side to the story, however, shows how quickly something can escalate and be spread in almost real time.

It shows that in terrible circumstances, the people of Brighton will come together at a moment’s notice to help in any way they can.

That is something I love, and also something quite refreshing to see when most of the time social media is about being offended by something ridiculous or largely being negative about the world in general.

Brett Mendoza

Brighton