CREATING a new way of allowing people to communicate is all well and good. But even then you don't get to control how people end up using it.

Even established modern phenomena such as Twitter and Facebook had moments when their creators were surprised by where its users were taking it.

Cramlington-based start-up Palringo had one of those moments when unrest bubbled up in Syria this year.

The company was set up in 2006 and offers an instant messaging platform which allows users to set up groups, share photos and have voice chats and discussions wherever they are. It already boasts 10 million users, but the firm noticed an intriguing spike in one location in the early months of the year.

Founder Martin Rosinski said: “It was something we discovered accidentally. In our stats, we noticed a spike in the number of groups that had been formed in Syria.

“People were using these groups to collaborate and exchange information while other forms of information had been shut down by the Government.”

Saudi Arabia, Syria and Indonesia account for nearly half of Palringo’s traffic, or 20.9%, 16.5% and 6.8% respectively.

The service has over 250,000 discussion groups at the moment, many of which have expanded to the current user limit of 2,000 users.

However, it has also developed an Enterprise Messaging Platform specifically designed for companies that want their employees to communicate and share information on the move.