West Midlands Police joins Snapchat – we say ‘good work’!!

Having done most of my schooling in a small village in the West Midlands (Tettehnall) I, Barry, have a strong affinity with the ‘black country’ as it’s affectionately known. So this particular blog post is close to my heart in two ways 🙂

It’s great to see a police force actually keeping up with the times. Whether we like it or not our world is becoming more and more ‘virtual’. People spend more time online, staring at screens and it’s set to get worse, at least until the point where we won’t need to carry our own screens and will be able to do everything through thought on the virtual screen we will have implanted on our eyeballs!! (Pure speculation of the future there)

Snapchat is currently the App of choice for youngsters – a recent statistic I read showed that in 60 seconds – just one minute – 104,000 photos are shared on Snapchat. The nature of the App whereby information is ‘deleted’ once you have read it has been a major attraction to many youngsters who believe that there can be no trail then of what is being sent. This is not true, but for more information on Snapchat have a read of our post from a little while back – Snapchat set to take on the likes of Whatsapp in the messaging arena

The West Midlands Police (WMP) is deliberately targeting a younger crowd to communicate with via social media channels, and is looking to foster relationships with everyone through the various channels. They have a great following on line already but by adding Snapchat to the equation they are aiming to really build that trust with the next generation, so they feel they can talk to their local police man. The images and messages being broadcast will not only offer tips, but also give insight into the day to day operations of the Police. I think this is a great initiative, transparency, across all companies and organisations helps to build trust. By showing what you are doing on a daily basis and how things work, a certain level of understanding can be reached.

I say hats off to the West Midlands Police department, they are innovating which is always a good thing. They are also future proofing for the future, by aiming to communicate with the digital natives on the channels they are most comfortable with, the WMP will become a part of the landscape for them and not a late comer trying desperately to join the party.

Keep up the good work WMP – we will be following your story on Snapchat all the way from Dubai!