India is winning when it comes to using Twitter. Last year, it was estimated that 17% of Twitter users came from the country and that means they have a significant impact to the social network. The Indian government and the agencies have been using the service quite extensively and in this campaign, it is quite witty.
Mumbai Police have done a series of campaigns in the past aimed for informing the public but the latest one that is aimed to teach people about stopping drugs is quite witty. The campaign’s hashtag #HoshMeinAao which in Hindi means Come to your Senses uses puns in a witty way to convince people not to use drugs. Here are some of the tweets the Police department made:
Be a hero without 'heroin'. #HoshMeinAao
— मुंबई पोलीस – Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) January 27, 2016
https://twitter.com/CPMumbaiPolice/status/692296805640380416
https://twitter.com/CPMumbaiPolice/status/692194106160893952
Mumbai Police is not the only police department from India that uses Twitter to carry out its mandate. The Police Commissioner for Bangalore’s Police department wanted to use Periscope to fight crime in the huge city that has a population more than twice the size of Nairobi. This made sense since the service will allow city residents to livestream offences for them to act. The commissioner also wanted to start a WhatsApp account for the police department so as to effectively carry out the department.
In Kenya, we have the likes of Chief Kariuki who has inspired other chiefs in the country to carry out their mandate of helping the public. It is still unfortunate that in the country, the police does not use the various social platforms to carry out campaigns as shown by the Mumbai and Bangalore police departments, but there is still time for improvement.
