Twitter's Growth

According to The Next Web, Twitter has skyrocketed from January 2009 to January 2010.

Interestingly, according to Alexa, Twitter ranks as the tenth Website in the world, ranking the highest in South Africa. I would also like to note, at the time this article was written on The Next Web in February of this year, Twitter moved from twelfth to tenth in the world, and from eighth to seventh in South Africa!

The following chart shows Twitter's massive growth from January 2009 to January 2010.



The chart below shows the massive growth in the number of daily tweets from January 2007 to January 2010. As of January 2010, statistics show there are 50 million tweets sent by Twitter each day!

Facebook and the Police

Many police departments are now using Facebook as an investigative and educational tool. The police are now using Facebook for a variety of reasons including:

- posting pictures of missing persons
- posting mugshots of criminals
- updating the public with press releases
- updating the community with public service announcements
- providing educational information and links to the public
- investigating suspects by accessing their Facebook pages


The Greenfield, Indiana Police Department provides an excellent example of how this Facebook interaction helps bring together the community and the police department.

A great example of the use of Facebook by the police, can be found in the following video of a fugitive who posted information on his page stating his location, where he worked, and informed that the police would not find him. The police investigated this fugitive's Facebook page, which resulted in his apprehension.

Taking the Law Into Your Own Hands

While YouTube is used for a variety of entertainment purposes, it is interesting to look at YouTube from the criminal justice aspect. I found an article about a man who posted a video of himself, in his bedroom, possessing a firearm. Because this man was a felon, possessing a firearm is a criminal federal offense. The YouTube video he posted could cost him 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

YouTube is also useful tool in allowing citizens to take an active role in helping law enforcement in the apprehension of criminals. This surveillance video shows an armed robbery occcuring at a grocery store. There is contact information listed, so anyone who wants to contact law enforcement with regard to this robbery, can do so anonymously. At the time of this blog there were nearly 600 people who viewed this video. It is interesting to ponder how YouTube could become the next "America's Most Wanted".