Fighting crime with social media
His Twitter account is so popular that, he says, even the thieves in his village follow him.
One night his phone rang at 4am warning him that thieves were invading a school teacher’s house.
He tweeted the message – and within minutes, villagers had gathered outside the house, frightening the thugs into fleeing.
This quote, from a Telegraph UK article, is a testament to just how effective Kenyan village chief Francis Kariuki’s use of social media has been for crisis management. Doing everything from sending inspirational messages to recovering lost livestock via Twitter, Kariuki’s story highlights the amazing potential of social media to improve human lives, even in difficult circumstances.
In fact, Kariuku is ahead of many in law enforcement, who have only scratched the surface of what social media can do for them. It’s not only for-profit businesses that can benefit from improved reputation and increased interaction with stakeholders. Police and fire stations that get involved with social media benefit from first hand reports, mobile video and images, and a steady stream of both fact and rumors that they can sift through for useful information, not to mention addressing public concerns and warning of impending troubles.
Sound good to you? It’s not hard to get involved. Download a social media monitoring program of your choice (we recommend TweetDeck or HootSuite), create an account, and start establishing a presence today.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/