Bothwell Msimango 57898812
EUP1501-S1-23 Assessment 4
Social media as defined in the Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders from the
United Nations document of the dissertation on the Social Media, Development and
Governance is “the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-
based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration” (p. 9). Online suggests connectivity
to the internet which is a world wide web of computers linked to one another in various
networks. This short discourse unfolds the use of the social media platform of Twitter. It briefs
its importance by highlighting how it can be used in crime prevention and community safety.
According to the definition of social media, Twitter is one such channel where the community
can utilize its societal engagement capacity to help prevent crime and thereby improve
community safety. It is an advantageous space in that it allows people to communicate their
freedoms embedded in thoughts, opinions, and general self-expressions shared through
pictures, tweets, videos, threads and or links to other sites. However, with that, comes the
challenge of increasing criminal activities by tech-savvy offenders. It thus comes very handy
to be aware and conscious of crucial safety measures that can prevent crime.
(Ceccato et al, 2021, p. 3) cite that the use of information sharing can be a prevention method.
This suggests that the community can actively help the police by sharing with one other and
with the police vital data and or information about possible crimes that are in the pipeline. Also,
twitter users who are known as tweeps can intelligently share, with others, the crime hotspots
that people should avoid and that can eventually serve as a pivotal tactic to prevent crime and
improve safety. This is termed as ‘collaborative problem-solving.’ This is beneficial to tweeps
in that they can follow precautionary measures that can resultantly help them.
A piece of journalistic work placed on the sanews.gov website indicates that police use twitter
for several crime-tackling measures. One that stands out is the strategic use of the platform to
track the whereabouts of criminals. That way, police can act swiftly in apprehending the
criminals and that entails more crimes prevented from being committed by the same criminals
who will be caught using the twitting space. This works as an advantage to tweeps and the
overall society in that crime is prevented. However, the openness of the platform can be
disadvantageous because of the availability of information that can be accessed by people with
sinister intentions.
In conclusion, twitter can among other uses, serve as a platform for crime prevention and
community safety improving through sharing of information, collaborative problem-solving
and posting of pictures and videos of crime activities that will help the police with the follow
up on such acts and to pick up the whereabouts of criminals who will in due course be
apprehended and taken from society. The openness and connectedness of Twitter can
sometimes work against its purpose because information is readily accessible by anyone with
the means.
EUP1501-S1-23 Assessment 4
Social media as defined in the Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders from the
United Nations document of the dissertation on the Social Media, Development and
Governance is “the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-
based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration” (p. 9). Online suggests connectivity
to the internet which is a world wide web of computers linked to one another in various
networks. This short discourse unfolds the use of the social media platform of Twitter. It briefs
its importance by highlighting how it can be used in crime prevention and community safety.
According to the definition of social media, Twitter is one such channel where the community
can utilize its societal engagement capacity to help prevent crime and thereby improve
community safety. It is an advantageous space in that it allows people to communicate their
freedoms embedded in thoughts, opinions, and general self-expressions shared through
pictures, tweets, videos, threads and or links to other sites. However, with that, comes the
challenge of increasing criminal activities by tech-savvy offenders. It thus comes very handy
to be aware and conscious of crucial safety measures that can prevent crime.
(Ceccato et al, 2021, p. 3) cite that the use of information sharing can be a prevention method.
This suggests that the community can actively help the police by sharing with one other and
with the police vital data and or information about possible crimes that are in the pipeline. Also,
twitter users who are known as tweeps can intelligently share, with others, the crime hotspots
that people should avoid and that can eventually serve as a pivotal tactic to prevent crime and
improve safety. This is termed as ‘collaborative problem-solving.’ This is beneficial to tweeps
in that they can follow precautionary measures that can resultantly help them.
A piece of journalistic work placed on the sanews.gov website indicates that police use twitter
for several crime-tackling measures. One that stands out is the strategic use of the platform to
track the whereabouts of criminals. That way, police can act swiftly in apprehending the
criminals and that entails more crimes prevented from being committed by the same criminals
who will be caught using the twitting space. This works as an advantage to tweeps and the
overall society in that crime is prevented. However, the openness of the platform can be
disadvantageous because of the availability of information that can be accessed by people with
sinister intentions.
In conclusion, twitter can among other uses, serve as a platform for crime prevention and
community safety improving through sharing of information, collaborative problem-solving
and posting of pictures and videos of crime activities that will help the police with the follow
up on such acts and to pick up the whereabouts of criminals who will in due course be
apprehended and taken from society. The openness and connectedness of Twitter can
sometimes work against its purpose because information is readily accessible by anyone with
the means.
