Twitter … The Latest in Crime-Fighting Technology?!?

I came across an article recently that cracked me up but also made me shake my head at the infinite number of ways that social media helps us communicate with others no matter the reason.  You can read the full article here, but here’s a quick excerpt from the Daily Camera, the community newspaper for Boulder, Colorado:

When Elaine Ellis returned to her downtown Boulder apartment Saturday morning to find her bike lock ripped from a brick wall and her Trek Allant bicycle gone, she was heartbroken – for a moment.

But instead of simply calling police to report the theft and hoping to one day see her bike again, Ellis – known as a leader in the Boulder technology community and a social media butterfly – decided to take action.

“Have you seen this Boulder bike thief?” Ellis, 30, tweeted around 11 a.m. Monday. She included a link to her blog, where she’d posted a cell phone photo that her neighbor snapped of the crime as it happened.

Within hours, one of Ellis’ 3,558 Twitter followers spotted a man matching that photo riding her Trek along the Boulder Creek Path. The police were notified, and that sighting led to an arrest — and Ellis’ reunion with her bike.

“Got my bike back!!!” Ellis tweeted Monday evening. “4.5 hours after my blog post. Well done Boulder.”

Gotta love how this two-way communication tool has the power to make such a difference in our lives. An angry complaint via a Twitter post actually saved my credit score a few points just last year. We can use social media in so many ways that it seems we’re just barely touching its full potential. 

So, maybe you haven’t recovered a stolen bicycle or fought AT&T over a billing issue on Twitter, but I’m sure this medium has made a difference for you in some form or fashion.  Feel free to share your stories with us here!