I couldn’t believe it when I caught a glimpse of the newspaper article.  Apparently the Utica Police Department has entered into the age of new media.  They’re all hooked up with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and they’re actually using them to their advantage!

You see, they are trying to connect with the community where they’re already at.  The question is, how are they leveraging their social media presence?  I’d like to take a look at what they’re doing and hopefully answer that question.

Facebook

Looking at the City of Utica, NY Police Department’s Facebook page, I see postings about incidents that they need help finding out information.  They’re posting pictures and videos hoping someone sees them and can remember something to help them in their investigations.  Facebook is a good place because it is easy to post stuff like that and people can easily leave comments or even cal the phone number being listed.

Beyond having the ability to contact the Utica PD, users can comment on the postings, sharing thoughts and opinions.

This turns out to give the police department several positives.  First, they have a method to reach out to many people to find much needed information on cases they’re trying to solve.  Also, they are more intimately connecting with the community by giving them a forum to express themselves.

YouTube

The Utica Police Department is using YouTube to post footage of crimes they are looking for information on.  Seems like an obvious use, right?  The question one may ask is why they’d need YouTube if they could just upload video to Facebook?  As it turns out, once they upload the videos to YouTube, they embed them on Facebook anyhow.  I think doing it this way can enable them to reach communities on Facebook and YouTube.  A kind of cross-pollination.

Twitter

Since they are new on YouTube and Twitter, their Twitter following is still quite small.  What they are doing on Twitter is posting updates for the other two sites.  This way, if you are more of a Twitter user, you can keep up with what’s going on and you’ll be notified of pictures posted on Facebook and videos on YouTube.  I am not sure of how popular Twitter is in Utica, but I suppose the police department will find out soon.

So there you have it.  The Utica Police Department has a social media strategy.  It’s currently fairly new but it’s encouraging to see a police station entering into the social media realm and try to connect with those they are serving.

Check out this hilarious video:

Yep, Google does it again!

This time I wrangled my sister, Tracy to do some tests on wetoku, the REALLY neat (did you hear that David?) new service, wetoku.  They were really nice enough to me to allow me to test some of the upcoming “Pro” features.  Tonight we tested the difference in quality of the video settings (Normal=16kbps, High=32kbps, and Higher=66kbps).  The first video is “Normal.”

If you notice, the video is pixelated.  Even when we are not moving, the picture is a bit pixelated.  When the video is seen in full screen mode, it’s almost like playing an old video game.  Give no mind to the silly wagging of our heads.  It’s just our way of testing motion!

The “High” setting is a lot better, in my opinion.  There is minimal pixelation and even when enlarging the video, the picture is still fine.

During the test of the “Higher” setting, we experienced some blurring instead of pixelation.  The video is still acceptable even for full screen.  Personally I like the “High” setting.  The minimal pixelation is not much of a trade off for the absence of the blurring.  Just my opinion.

As far as my overall opinion so far, I thoroughly enjoy using wetoku and I think they are heading in an awesome (did you hear that one too, Dave?) direction!  When I was told about some of the “pro” features coming out in private beta in October, it was plain to see that they are definitely listening to the public’s opinions.  I’ve heard people ask for better video and, WHAMO!  Better video!  People have been asking about video editing abilities, well, rumor has it there’s another WHAMO coming!  Also going to be tested is the ability to upload re-roll and post-roll video, custom watermark, and a customizable embeddable player.

There are a few things I’ve noticed so far that I think would be good to add, including multiple recordings per interview sitting (unless I missed something) and the ability to download the video for local safekeeping and for sharing on social video networks like YouTube.

They’re not done yet so keep cheering them on and keep giving them feedback!  Good job so far wetoku!

I’ve noticed how quickly news travels now, especially when there is a video involved.  Remember the incedent with Ryan Moats and the police officer?  How about poor old lady being tasered?  Many of us have seen these videos and have our own opinions about them but just think back 5 to 10 years ago… would so many of us have known much about them?  Probably not.

In a recent post on the Google Blog, the subject of “digital activism” was discussed.  I think it’s a very interesting thing to ponder in light of fairly recent events in some very closed nations.  There were some videos being circulated from China, and even Iran showing some goings-on.  Sites like Youtube have really opened the door for people to get their points across!

A few weeks back I was interested to watch a youtube video of someone making a point.  There is a movement in New England about camera rights and particularly in court rooms and other public places.  The movement is an interesting one but not really what I want to talk about today.  It made me think about how easy it is today to make video content and how easy it is to share it with others.

Check out the video and share some of your thoughts in the comments.  Tell us a few things:

1. Has the impact of the digital age been a good thing or not, and why or why not?
2. In what ways has digital activism changed how you think or feel?
3. Obviously the idea of activism is to help others see your point of view.  Does this video help you see the activist’s point?  Why or why not?

Well, I was relaxing the other night and I was watching some interesting YouTube videos and I came across some interesting investigative reporting by John Stossel.  Can you imaging taking on gun control AND global warming?  Well, check these segments out:

• Here, John makes some interesting points about how crime rates actually rise when the guns are taken away from the citizens!

• Can you believe he is actually taking on the animal of global warming?  Go John!

I don’t always blog about controversal issues such as these but I found these videos interesting and worth the conversation.  OK, so what do you think?  Gun control, great idea? or taking rights away?  Global warming, inconvenient truth or convenient lie?  You start the conversation in the comments!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Check out these two Thanksgiving videos!

Try your hand at a Turducken!

Check out what happens when you deep fry a turkey the wrong way!

I was shown this video not too long ago and I posted it on Facebook already, but I thought I’d share some humor here too!  Enjoy!

The person who posted the video on youtube made sure to mention that he in no way coaxed his kids to bite each other!  They just happened to catch it on camera.

A contest to find the funniest YouTube video you can find!

I’m going to begin searching for a funny YouTube video on a weekly basis. YouTube is a big place and there is a lot to choose from but I will bring you the best (or my favorite) of the week.

I want to start my new endeavor with a contest! I want YOU, my readers or visitors, to go on to YouTube and find the funniest video you can find and leave the URL in the comments of this post.  Please note that they WILL be moderated!  I want only clean humor, which means no vulgarity, meanness, explicitness, etc. etc. etc.  Moderation is at the sole discretion of yours truly (that’s me!).

The winner not only gets the video they submitted posted on timmyjohnboy.com, but I’ll aslo send them a timmyjohnboy.com key chain! Cool, huh?  This means, if you want the key chain, you’ll have to be willing to give me your address (which I will contact you via email after the contest is over and which I will only use for the sending of this prize and will not give it away, or save it in any way).  Also, I’ll only mail to the USA (sorry Aussies, and anyone else out there!).

So, go ahead and start looking! The contest ends Sunday, 10/26/08, at 9:00 PM EST!  I’ll announce the winner then.

One more thing,

I’ll need at least 10 submittals for the prize to be awarded, so TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

UPDATE!!!  I’ll allow you to use GODTUBE.com also!  -for those of you either opposed to or filtered from YouTube.com