The NYPD Shows Us How to Not Use Social Media
Social media is a great resource for companies, organizations, groups, and individuals. It gives people the ability to be able to communicate with masses of potential consumers, supporters, and affiliates. However, since social media is incredibly popular in today’s society, it also has negative consequences due to the large world of an audience that is always watching.
The New York Police Department decided to give social media a try this past week. In order to rally support for the NYPD, they posted on Twitter asking their followers to tweet photos of themselves with NYC police officers using the hashtag #myNYPD.
Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook. pic.twitter.com/mE2c3oSmm6
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 22, 2014
I can understand that they may have thought this could have been a good idea at first, having pictures of smiling faces and good vibes to show support with a low cost PR campaign. However, with the vast amount of people out there who are not so fond of the police force, you would think that someone might not specifically ask for pictures on a social media platform as big as Twitter.
The NYPD did not get what they were asking for. Many users have used the hashtag to post images of police brutality and misconduct, and there are hardly any friendly images that they were hoping for. Twitter users took the NYPD photo request and used it as an invitation to mock the NYPD, as well as other departments.
So, what can we learn from this social media backfire? Just because you create a hashtag, does not mean you own it. Businesses and organizations need to be weary of how they interact with the social media community. Things can be misconstrued, judged, and taken the wrong way, especially on the internet.
