The NYPD Just Ran Over a Bunch of Dirt Bikes With a Bulldozer Live on Facebook
The award for most compelling use of Facebook Live since BuzzFeed’s watermelon explosion goes to the City of New York digital team and the NYPD, which used the streaming platform to broadcast the theatrical destruction of dozens of confiscated dirt bikes this afternoon. The good part starts at about the 29-minute mark in the video below.
The department has a shaky history with using social media to promote itself, so it’s impressive they managed to execute this piece of propaganda, which Commissioner Bill Bratton has been teasing for at least a month. It has everything: dramatic visuals, an enemy everybody loves to hate in those street-riding dirt bike crews, enough fireworks to distract people from the more serious issues facing the department and the city at large. There’s probably something a little more productive they could have done with the seized gear than destroy it on camera, but hey look, a bulldozer! Pay attention, digital media companies.