Impressive Kenyan Official Use of Twitter

As the horrible events at the Westgate mall in Nairobi still unfold, I want to highlight the impressive use of social media by Kenyan authorities like the police and ministry of interior. Many can learn from them!

  1. 1. Timely information

    – information too late is no information.
  2. We would like to confirm that, the official record of those who died because of the cruel act stands at 62.
  3. Through our operations this morning, we have killed 2 terrorists and we will be giving you finer details going forward.
  4. 2. Messages to the public

    – Twitter is an excellent direct channel
  5. This is a plea, keep off #WestGateMall for your own security. This is a scene of crime and it’s for your own safety.
  6. The ongoing speculations online are going to jeopardize the efforts to rescue the remaining hostages. Please heed and be calm. Pls RT
  7. 3. Personal professional accounts (here Inspector General of the Kenyan Police)

    -Creates calm as we see real people are out there doing their best
  8. Thumbs up to our multi-agency team, we have just managed to rescue some hostages. We’re increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers. IG
  9. 4. Collaboration between agencies

    – Creates calm as we see agencies work in tandem
  10. We urge those of us who have posted graphic images to remove them so as to observe solidarity with the affected families~ @InteriorKE
  11. 5. Understanding the basics of Twitter, eg. verification of accounts, hashtags

    – Creates confidence in the agency
  12. Thank you @twitter has verified account, so we continue updating and encourage you. As we said: One love!
  13. We plead with you to keep off #WestGateMall if you aren’t a security agent,volunteer or a member of the media fraternity.WG is a crime scene
  14. …though there are things to learn, we must keep a critical mind. Also official accounts do best to stick to facts, details and general warnings, and avoid judging the situation as it unfolds.
  15. The security forces are in control of the entire West Gate building and we are doing what must be done to end this.
  16. Fire shows Kenya police has lost control of situation, they seem to do their best to cover their failure. Quite hostile to journos #westgate

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