NYPD's Twitter Outreach Backfires in Most Predictable Way Possible
Twitter has been around for eight years, and it still hasn't quite sunken in that it's a terrible place to promote your brand. Especially if your brand is police brutality, unnecessary roughness, and racial profiling.
The NYPD took a stab at some Twitter outreach Tuesday afternoon with this call for photos of citizens and their friendly neighborhood cops:
They got exactly what they asked for, courtesy of Occupy Wall Street supporters and others whose experiences with New York's Finest haven't exactly been hashtag awesome.
Do you have a photo w/ a member of the #NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on their Facebook! pic.twitter.com/Ps7rThxgNw
— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) April 22, 2014
#NYPD Keeping the Streets Safe. Show some love, and send your pics with #MyNYPD hashtags! pic.twitter.com/Sk31xWjQMp
— Chelsea Manning♥ (@shushugah) April 22, 2014
Free Massages from the #NYPD. What does YOUR Police Department offer? Tweet at #MyNYPD pic.twitter.com/IFWr8exuqH
— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) April 22, 2014
Need a mammogram? #myNYPD has you covered! Forget Obamacare! pic.twitter.com/Fusv3WhiRZ
— आनिल् (@guru0509) April 22, 2014
#NYPD protect banks and kiks pacific people #Wallstreet Mafia #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/eKiElOg9hI
— HDG (@hdgremix) April 22, 2014
how #myNYPD treats 16 year olds who say "no" to being stopped and frisked: https://t.co/awb00Qxeon pic.twitter.com/MhyArnHKXK
— DefendedInTheStreets (@KimaniFilm) April 22, 2014
To be fair, some New Yorkers did post photos of themselves with officers in situations other than assault and battery, but they were quickly overwhelmed by reminders of the time the NYPD bloodied an 84-year-old man for jaywalking.
Social media is hard.
