Today a South African man is thanking his girlfriend’s Twitter followers for saving his life. The victim of a carjacking and robbery, the unnamed man was held-up at gun point then forced into the trunk of his Volkswagen Golf while his assailants went for a 150 mile ride. Lucky for him the carjackers didn’t happen to find his cellphone during their rushed search for valuables, an oversight that cost them dearly and won the man his freedom back.
Now, while many US residents would have immediately dialed 911 if locked in their trunks at the hands of carjackers, the victim decided to text message his girlfriend for help. While the exact reason for this isn’t known, it could have something to do with the fact that many of the police in South Africa aren’t always top-notch — they’ve been known to set up false roadblocks seeking bribes to let people through. Whatever the reason, his choice was highly effective because the immediate response of Lynn Peters (the girlfriend in question) was to go directly to Twitter to try and leverage social media to locate the stolen vehicle. Going by the Twitter handle “@onebadvillyn,” Peters sent out the message pictured above that included the license plate number of her boyfriend’s Golf. What happened next was a lesson in going viral.
Not surprisingly, all of Peters’ friends and followers on Twitter picked up the message and then retweeted it out to spread the word about the ongoing crisis. One of Peters’ followers was Tanisha Reddy, a self-proclaimed socialite from Johannesburg. Interestingly (and luckily) enough, one of her 125 followers happens to be a gentleman who goes by the handle “@PigSpotter,” a popular Twitter user that uses social media to alert South African citizens to the aforementioned illegal roadblock put up by corrupt officers. Upon seeing Reddy’s retweet, PigSpotter put the word out to his 100,000 followers, increasing the search effort exponentially.
Because of his law-enforcement related activities, PigSpotter is followed by several private security firms that jumped at the chance to try to help the carjacking victim. Several different companies offered services ranging from tracking the man’s cellphone signal to seeing if there was some sort of electronic tracking on the vehicle. But it wasn’t until K9 Security spotted the vehicle in Ventersberg, some 150 miles from the original carjacking site , that the day was saved. After reporting the sighting to authorities, K9 Security helped to stop the car at a police roadblock, where they both jumped out of the car and fled on foot. The victim, unharmed, emerged from the trunk sweaty but in piece thankful for his rescue.
While many people would question his choice of reaching out for help, really it makes a lot of sense since social media allows messages to be distributed at lightning speeds. It’s certainly faster than a phone call and then trying to explain things to another person. Kudos to the victim, his girlfriend, and the many who responded to get him home safe!
via Ars Technica.
