We have on many occasions dedicated this space to discuss social media and the sometimes unrestricted sword it yields.
Always a welcome and readily accessible vehicle for communicating with out-of-touch friends and family members, it’s an easy way to share photos, memories, and make plans for milestone reunions. It serves as a reminder of birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions we might otherwise forget.
But with the same voice as many who sing it’s praises–many being defined as the nearly 73% of Americans who use it daily–we speak about it’s potential dangers.
Arguably, social media, be it Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and a host of slightly less popular social streams, has been incorporated to spread the word about neighborhood crime. Local police precincts have themselves taken to Twitter, posting a variety of information to the public. They share important neighborhood arrests, post information about suspects being sought and offer general information to the community at large that can serve to help keep their homes, possessions and even their children and loved ones safe.
While surfing through a popular local site just the other day, we noticed a few individuals who posted their home surveillance video of individuals on and around their property, who were clearly “up to no good”. They commented on the fact that they would have to call the cops about it. Later
While we see the usefulness of such actions in keeping neighbors alert and aware of their immediate surroundings, we are also aware that this reporting on social media should never take the place of first reporting any instance of threat to person or property to the police.
But one of the hidden dangers of social media, as we see it, is becoming so reliant upon it that we fail to exercise the use of other means of communication with the outside world that have been in place for a lot longer than social media.
Again, we are not suggesting that this means of alerting your neighbors is not a good way to get the word out, however we hope to send the message that the practice of excluding police from this equation is both short sighted and very dangerous.
So while we encourage you to share experiences with your neighbors, before logging on to your computer, phone or laptop, pick up the phone and use the conventional means of reporting crime. CALL THE POLICE.
Another warning along the same parallels is that we need to be aware that everyone looking at our accounts or “pages” is not another concerned neighbor or friend. It is certainly a proven fact that the Internet attracts many criminals.
A woman in Chicago recently posted a video of thieves on her driveway who stole her car. A neighbor commented on the clarity of her camera system, to which the woman replied that she was going to install the same type of cameras around her entire house instead of just the ones that covered her driveway and front door right after she got back from her week long vacation.
We suppose you can guess the ending of that story. While away with her family, an opportunistic individual who saw the post, used the information to plot a video free burglary of the woman’s home, cleaning out her jewelry, silverware and many family heirlooms.
Just please think before you log on.
