NYPD's #myNYPD Twitter campaign backfires

The New York Police Department thought that they would drum up some support on Twitter by asking people to share pictures of the police. That has backfired hugely, with a lot of people hijacking the hashtag to share pictures showing the police in a negative light instead.

It all started with a tweet asking for people to share images with the hashtag #myNYPD (pictured above). People have been responding by trolling the account, both to point out what look like real abuses of power, and also to put up really absurd images like these:

Found this pic on the #myNYPD trollapalooza and I think it might be my favorite thing of all time. pic.twitter.com/Aseh5tXQxu

#MyNYPD #EarthDay pic.twitter.com/1fIEWEbDlh

In the decontextualised atmosphere of Twitter, it is possible that all these images are being misrepresented, and do not highlight instances of police abuse at all. Whatever the reality though, there's no denying that within the social network, the images send out a highly negative message for the NYPD.

Images like these suggest a highly antagonistic relationship between the people and the police, regardless of the context.

NYPD Encourages Everyone To Tweet Photos With the Cops, Things Go Predictably Awry http://t.co/UymZ0gTFLm #mynypd pic.twitter.com/TW5WdF3yAe

#MyNYPD is not for everyone, just the 1% that matters. pic.twitter.com/oabepyoILA

#MyNYPD helping you find your local Free-Speech Zone. pic.twitter.com/HNGVCcWKW7

NYPD helping an old lady cross the street. #MyNYPD pic.twitter.com/ztROIkB03W

Is this a social media "fail"? Almost undoubtedly, but the bigger question that the NYPD and other authorities need to answer is why that is the case. This kind of response does not point to a few trolls having fun online, but to a systematic breakdown in the relationship between the authorities and the people they ostensibly serve.

In India too, the Delhi Traffic Police has an active online presence, and if you visit that page, then you can see a lot of activity with useful information being regularly shared. This might perhaps be the best option for organisations like it and the NYPD, to avoid friction by staying focused on delivering useful information at a steady pace, instead of launching "campaigns".