Social media interactions are playing a "significant" role in fanning violence in Chicago, the American city with the highest murder rate, a study found Tuesday. The Chicago Crime Commission found that many of the more than 100,000 gang members in the Midwestern city are engaged in regular taunts and boasts online, which often spiral quickly into street violence.

"Our data is saying that a significant amount of the violence instigated is coming from social media," the watchdog group's Andrew Henning told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He compared the online media phenomenon to graffiti. What once may have been a slow process of disseminating information between gangs has been sped up by social media's immediacy. "It creates instantaneous conflict," Henning said.

The report, compiled into a thick tome entitled "The Gang Book," is due to be disseminated to schools and residents throughout the city, and offers an unusually detailed glimpse into Chicago's gang culture.

Members of the more than 50 active Chicago gangs are employing various social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, messaging apps and others, for the daily tasks of protecting gang territories and selling drugs, the report found.

Gang members are namely using text messages using emoji graphic characters to take drug orders. They are posting live videos to taunt rivals or respond to perceived insults.