Social Media To Shape Police Conduct
Teens Design App To Encourage Better Police Behaviour
The new app, Five-O, has been in development for the last few months, but comes as a timely and appropriate response to politicised race issues, such as the recent death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, which has sparked international queries into the nature of police conduct.Hailing from Georgia, 14-year-old Caleb Christian and his two sisters, 15 year old Asha and 16-year-old Ima, designed the app on the premise that it would encourage better police behaviour, as users can rate their local police departments and individual encounters with officers.
The siblings told US news outlets that: “We've been hearing about the negative instances in the news, for instance most recently the Michael Brown case, and we always talk about these issues with our parents, they always try to reinforce that we should focus on solutions. It’s important to talk about the issues, but they try to make us focus on finding solutions – that made us think why don’t we create an app to help us solve this problem”.
This is in fact the third app released by the siblings, who taught themselves coding and app design over the last few years from public school programme’s like MIT’s Scratch and CodeAcademy whilst attending app development classes at the nearby Georgia Tech and Emory University. They have set up their own company, Pinetart Inc., and with the help of mentors, Five-O becomes their latest app.
This is in fact the third app released by the siblings, who taught themselves coding and app design over the last few years from public school programme’s like MIT’s Scratch and CodeAcademy whilst attending app development classes at the nearby Georgia Tech and Emory University. They have set up their own company, Pinetart Inc., and with the help of mentors, Five-O becomes their latest app.
As the situation in Ferguson plummets further into disarray and violent dispute, the app offers a tool for aggrieved citizens to empower themselves by providing a metric by which to rate local police forces and hold them accountable for their actions. Importantly though, the teenage siblings also stress their desire for the app to be used for positive and beneficial purposes, hoping that users will praise and applaud commendable police actions (unlike the unfortunate hijack of the #myNYPD hashtag campaign).
An autopsy this week has revealed that the unarmed Michael Brown was shot six times on the day that he died, twice in the head. Violence in the Missouri town of Ferguson has peaked, with police and citizens coming to heavy blows – tear gas, injuries and gunshot wounds marked a weekend of hostility and altercation. Governor Jay Nixon’s decision on Saturday to declare a state of emergency and impose a midnight-to-5am curfew is further cause for concern.
The app is in its final stages of beta testing and will soon be available for iPhone and Android devices later in the month.
Katie Rowley
Recent graduate and now interning as content editor, when she's not writing articles Katie can quite likely be found festival-ing, holiday-ing or reading a book (dedicated English student that she is). Follow her @KatieAtSMF.
Contact us on Twitter, on Facebook, or leave your comments below. To find out about social media training or management why not take a look at our website for more info http://socialmediacambridge.co.uk/.
Social Media To Shape Police Conduct
![]()
Reviewed by Anonymous
on
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Rating:
Anonymous
Keeping you up to date on social media, digital marketing, apps, news & reviews. Social media, and digital marketing as a whole, are rapidly and constantly changing, adapting to new developments at an ever increasing rate. Just keeping up to date can be a nightmare. Our team of writers know their field, and keep an ear to the ground. We aim to keep you informed of all recent developments in the online world, and teach you a little something along the way. So whether you just want to stay connected, or gain some knowledge for yourself, the Social Songbird will keep on singing! More articles are posted every day so keep checking back! Join the discussion on Twitter - #SocialSongbird Or contact us directly - @SocialSongbird_
Entrepreneur, international speaker on Social Media Marketing. First one in the UK to write and speak in conferences about Twitter as a marketing tool. Consultant to Corporate Companies, Government Organizations, Marketing Managers and Business Owners.
Aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He hopes to one day drop that 'aspiring' prefix. He started as a writer and soon after he was made Executive Editor and Manager of the team at Social Songbird. A position he held for 5 years.
Adrienne is a passionate writer with experience in editing, content creation, and social media marketing. She’s a lover of animals, helping others improve their writing, and 2000s pop culture.
Musician, audio technician, professional tutor and a Cambridge university English student. Interested in writing, politics and obsessed with reading.
Recently graduated with a BA in English Literature from the University of Exeter, and he is about to study an MA in Journalism at the University of Sheffield. He is an aspiring journalist and novelist; in his free time he enjoys playing chess, listening to music and taking long walks through nature.
Lucy is an undergraduate BSc Politics and International Relations student at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Anna Coopey is a 4th year UG student in Classics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She is a keen writer and researcher on a number of topics, varying from Modern Greek literature to revolutionary theory.
Ellie is a recent BA English Literature graduate and aspiring publisher with a passion for writing. Her favourite pastimes include reading and shopping.