Gangs are taking a high tech approach to spreading their message by going online.

Street gangs have been around for as long people have been in existance, but now there's a new twist on this old school crime - attacks being plotted in 140 characters or less."They use my space, you tube and twitter to do it and they have web sites they put up," said Patricia Harrington, director of the Mayor's Anti-Gang Office.She said right now most the 200 or so gangs around here are only using the sites to promote the organization in hopes of recruiting new members. "So what they'll do is post photos of themselves and other gang members - they'll put messages to other gang members - rivals and their own gang members," she said.Extending the gang's reach well beyond the historical face to face interaction of old. "If you have a friend that's in a gang, that person can maybe pressure you or try to entice you personally to join a gang - this is another way that young people, again who may not have any contact at all with gang members, might become more interested or at least it might interest them in the gang culture," said Harrington.According to the Houston area FBI, these web sites used to communicate with members is referred to as "net-banging."We found a site for the Latin Kings, you can not only learn about the gang, but there's even a career section where they offer to give resume help, professional references and even recommendations.
"They can be used to entice young people who are just going onto the sites, who think it's cool and they see the photos and so on," said Harrington.In other states however, gangs are also using the popular sites to orchestrate crime, commit fraud and even traffic drugs.Something the FBI said often-times works in their favor since now there's a so called electronic paper trail.While it is estimated that these gang sites run in the tens of thousands, only 20 to 30 percent are run by actual gang members.Harrington said it's crucial for parents to monitor the websites their children are on, who they are instant messaging and who they are twittering.She also said pay attention to warning signs like sudden withdrawal or sudden change in behavior