Thank You for following!

100,000 tweets and keep on clicking..

I've been on Twitter for more than 2 years and originally used the tool because I was curious and also afraid I would lose my job at a communications company due to the economy at the time. I thought Twitter would be the best means to facilitate networking and job opportunities in my field. Fortunately I'm happy to be employed and have found that Twitter has become more than just a tool. It has become a Swiss Army tool for me. It has done more than I can imagine. From a free trip to San Francisco to the use of a free car and numerous events/gifts and most importantly being able to interact, communicate and engage with you. To you reading this post and following my tweets I "Thank You" sincerely.

For those that know me or have met me in person, I try to set an example of being someone that is a positive member to the community especially online. We all have our faults but trying to overcome them is the challenge. Having you all follow my "day to day" adventures is an outlet to share and learn from our experiences both bad and good. It cultivates conversation and instigates dialogue and just being social. I've learned a lot from many of you that I follow on Twitter. I am thankful for that.

To those that I have met IRL (In real life) at events and tweetups this is the true benefit of Twitter. The friendships and relationships I have gained are truly rewarding. To those that I have not met yet, I continue to enjoy the tweets and our exchanges online. Twitter is a tool that allows for freedom of expression. I respect everyone even if I agree or disagree with tweet(s). I continue to learn and evolve with all of you! It has truly been an experience and I look forward to more tweets! Maybe 100,000 more :-)

Police use Twitter

Twitter has been around for approximately 3 years now but it has only hit mainstream in the past year. It use to be a small group of tech savvy users and now has blossomed to millions of new users. Companies have jumped the bandwagon realizing the potential to interact with customers in a more personal and quick responsive way. It was only a matter of time but even the police are now using Twitter. Milwaukee police wanted to get word of a shooting out quickly, they did it in 113 characters on Twitter.

Milwaukee's department is one of a growing number of police agencies using social networks to relay important information the public might want to know. The only problem with this type of engagement is that false information can be mentioned in a tweet.
Anyone can also go on Twitter and claim they are the cops. Credibility can still be an issue with using social media this way. In Toronto, the police department has utilized youtube to post reenactments or descriptions of criminals which can reach a vast audience that goes past border and boundaries. The FBI is also now on Twitter too. They are using it more to dispel the way they are portrayed on television. It is being used more as an educational way to represent the FBI and to report sucessful operations. The FBI twitter handle is @FBIPressOffice.

One way I see Twitter being helpful is in the use of traffic control. Numerous news agencies will now tweet that there is an accident in a particular area which helps drivers manoeuvre their routes. The police have also used this to relay traffic delays especially when there are major events in a city. This replaces or substitutes the regular fax of traffic warnings from police to local business because Twitter is more instant. In a recent local news story, a girl went missing but their was no "Amber Alert" mentioned by police in which timing is in the essence for this type of crime; instead word got out through Twitter quicker than some news desk were able to report to general public.

Overall, Twitter can be used as an additional tool for the Police and other public agencies to engage with there constituents and residents. Only time can tell how the future use of social media will be used in solving criminal activities and reporting.