Everybody and their grandma is using social media these days; it seems most of us can’t go a full hour without checking our Facebook pages or our Twitter accounts, and with the popularity of smart phones, we can do it on the go.
But do we rely too heavily on social media outlets?
One mom in the U.K. town of Bolton might think so.
On Monday, Linda Cropper reported her 12-year old daughter missing after she didn’t return home from school. When the local police–GMP, or Greater Manchester Police–found the girl safe and sound in the town center, they tweeted the report before calling her mother.
CHOLE HAS BEEN FOUND BY POLICE IN THE TOWN CENTRE!!! THANK YOU PLEASE RT!
Linda, who had luckily been following updates on GMP’s Twitter account, saw the tweet and responded hopefully:
@GMPBoltonEast has my daughter been found
The police then responded with this tweet:
@bluemoonshine72 yes an officer will be in touch or call 101 and they will update and return her thank you
The police later apologized to the frantic mother after receiving irate tweets on their page regarding their mistake, according to the DailyMail.com.
@GMPBoltonEast do u not think a phone call to the childs mother would have been more appropiate than puttin it on twitter 1st,poor women !
With all the posts on various social media sites that are regarded as “worthless“, is it fair to judge the police department negatively? They were clearly acting out of excitement that the girl had been found safe and miscommunication was a factor, as well, as evidenced by this later tweet:
@amywilsonx Officers on the ground contact mum direct I was unaware at the time of posting mum had not been advised and can only apologise
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