Walking the Social Media Beat

One of the major stumbling blocks of social media use by police and law enforcement is how we talk or provide advice, information and or warnings.  We talk to the public like we talk to each other or in court or reports.

When you are talking to your community online, stop talking like a cop! It doesn’t work.  One of the objectives in your use of social media should be understood by your community by being relatable. Think about just the words we use:

• we observe, the public sees
• we communicate, the public talks
• we manage risk, the public is careful
• we disclose, the public gives

That list can go on and on.  But this goes way beyond the words we use.  It is how we think and act differently.  We live in a legal black and white world where some grey is allowed for discretion.  We end up dealing like that with the public.

The caption on the picture illustrates that, but here is another example.

“Don’t leave your pets in the car with the windows up.  It’s against the law.”

The vast majority of the public knows it’s against the law.  The people who do it more than likely know it’s against the law.  But they still do it! So, expressing the legality of an action may not be the best move to get your message across.  Why not try using something people can actually relate to:

Social Currency

Take the above message and change it out of the legal realm and put it into the social aspect of it.

“Your pet will die in a painful, horrible way if you leave it to bake in a car in the heat.”

No one wants to be sen as a bad person.  When you put it like this, they are not just a bad person, they are a pet killer.  One that derived a joy from causing a purely inhumane death to a defenceless animal.  Try and wear that badge of honour.

Here is another example:

“Speeding ticket for XX offence came with a $100 fine and 3 demerit points.”

That one hit some social currency (the $ amount) but fell short because it became really a legal issue.

“Get caught for speeding? You get a fine, your insurance goes up, you have less money every month and you can explain why your need to drive fast is why they can’t go to Disneyland.”

Extreme? Yup.  But, get the point?  Can you play the reverse engineering out of that way deeper?  You sure can.  Bring in a n expert from the insurance industry and do a Q & A on why rates go up, how bad drivers are identified.  Show pictures of car wrecks that have been caused by speeding drivers.

Get away from the legalese of the information you post and start concentrating on the social currency that people can relate to.

Social currency can be debited or credited. You can add to your own or others or you can take it away from others or yourself.

You can leverage the currency that others have and give as well by using their authority or words in a respectful, non-spammy way.

“Lock your doors and windows to prevent break-ins”

Most people can’t really comprehend “bad people” in their lives nor think that they will become victim’s of a bad person. But, it’s easy to comprehend people you don’t know or strangers.

“Do you like the idea of a person you don’t know going through your things because you left your front door open?  If someone breaks into your house, they will go through your underwear drawer. They will touch your children’s clothing.  They will go through your desk.  Go to www.thiswebsite.com to learn how you can better protect your family.”

You have even empowered your audience to take control themselves.  That is a win-win!

Social currency is just like real currency.  You can borrow it, share it, give it, leverage it, invest it, save it, etc.  People relate to it better and you become more relatable.

Image 1: <p>Image courtesy of David Castilli Dominici / <a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net” target=”_blank”>FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

Image 2: Toronto Police Facebook Page