What appears to be the official Twitter account of the Uttar Pradesh Police, makes for a rather fascinating study, given its approach to tweets, retweets and interactions with others on Twitter and the views they're sharing. This makes me sound prejudiced, but it's quite unusual too see how articulate, open and opinionated the officials managing the account are, regarding media reports, the things they're saying about police reforms and their approach to Social Media. Remember that in India, the police are usually not approachable, people hesitate before going to the police station, and policemen are often seen flouting the law: there is fear, and scant respect, not all of it undeserved. However, as is the case with most things related to a government administration, the Police gets flack for what they do wrong, and very little credit for when they get things right. The UP Police appears to be addressing some of these issues and engaging with users on twitter, creating a Facebook presence, giving out their helpline number asking users to text them at In emergencies +919453005341 in case of an emergency, and even creating a flipboard magazine, with police news. The Twitter account in particular is interesting: they're seeking community support, taking complaints, sharing initiatives being taken by them, informing people of their rights. Interestingly, they're also countering unsubstantiated reports in the media with their own version of events. Frankly, given how opinionated they are about some things, I wonder how long they'll be able to keep this…
