(4 min read)
Somewhere along the line social media became the center of our world – at least for many of us. The reasons for this are obvious, social media is a great form of communication and it’s a great way to connect with more people than would normally be possible.
It’s probably not surprising that our love of social media has also had an effect on our love affair with our cars. I’m not just talking about the fact that our cars are now fully integrated Entertainment Systems which includes access to social media apps.
There are a thousand different ways that people are using their social media accounts to interact with their cars and talk about cars. In this article we take a look at some of the best and worst examples of this.
Lost and Found
Recently, a mechanic in Australia by the name of Norman Clarke had two rare collectible Dodge Challenger Hellcats stolen from his garage.
He didn’t hold out much hope of ever getting them back, but he thought he had nothing to lose by turning to his community’s social media accounts.
The community posted more than 1700 messages related to the theft of his cars which led to numerous leads that helped him to find his cars with the help of the police.
I guess the moral of the story is to never underestimate the power of social media or the love of a man for his car.
Live Car Chase
Criminals aren’t always the brightest characters and that might explain why a pair of young men that recently led police on a wildcard chase decided that it would be a good idea to post the chase live as it happened on social media.
In the video the passenger provides a running commentary of the chase and makes sure that both of the car’s occupants are clearly visible on camera.
I guess they didn’t want to overwork the court system so they thought it would be easier just to provide the authorities’ live video evidence to use against them.
Using Social Media for Good
It’s not just criminals that are using social media – law enforcement has seen the value in it as well. In Aurora Colorado police recently launched Facebook and twitter accounts to report and seek information on stolen cars.
They recognized that the power of social media can make finding stolen cars a lot easier because information can be posted instantly and reach more people than would normally be possible.
Users simply have to follow the accounts to receive automatic notifications anytime a car is stolen. One thing’s for sure, criminals won’t be very happy about this new development.
A Car Reunion
Not all stories about cars and social media have to do with criminals. In a more heartwarming story the Volkswagen Company in Britain recently started a social media campaign encouraging people that had owned Volkswagen Beetles in the past to write about their memories of their cars.
After reading thousands of the stories that were posted they contacted a pub owner from Manchester whose father had owned a Volkswagen Beetle back in the 1970s.
The car had been an important part of his family’s life through the years and Volkswagen decided to track down and restore a model from the same year and present it to the man from Manchester as a gift. It would be good to see other car companies follow suit around the world as this is a great story.
A Social Media Site for Car Lovers
If you love cars as much as we do, then you probably like to talk about them and show them off at every opportunity.
Well now there is an app specifically designed for car lovers and their cars – it’s a sort of Instagram for cars. Shareyourdrive, developed by an Australian entrepreneur, is still a relatively new site and we hope it becomes a very popular one. Chances are you haven’t heard of it yet, but you have now so go check it out!
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