Pinterest's most wanted

September 28, 2012 4:23 PM

The Pottstown Mercury is using Pinterest in a bit of an unusual way - they're using the site to post photos of wanted criminals and arrests are apparently up in number.
posted by blaneyphoto (15 comments total)

That is brilliant. I clicked through to see if maybe someone on the run from PA is hanging out in my acquaintance circle here in FL. Didn't recognize any faces.
posted by bilabial at 4:26 PM on September 28, 2012

I had no idea "and related offenses" was such a common crime eating away at the very fabric of our society!
posted by Oh OK HA HA at 4:31 PM on September 28, 2012 [5 favorites]

My hometown (Pennsburg) is right next to Pottstown. Time to look through for old classmates!
posted by Toothless Willy at 4:40 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

There's a missing hyphen in there. It oughta be "and-related offenses." Like violations of house style re: the Oxford comma.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:42 PM on September 28, 2012 [4 favorites]

A lot of those wanted criminals are very crafty as well. Give that one murderer some wax, fake gems and bendy wire and you wouldn't believe what he'd come up with.
posted by nevercalm at 4:43 PM on September 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

My sister lives in Pottstown. From my time visiting, I have to say that the Pottstown Mercury is one of the worst newspapers that I have ever read. I doubt that their embrace of social media will advance the common good.
posted by incster at 4:56 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh great. Like it's not bad enough that every 10th pin or so is weight-loss program spam, now this. I'm just there for the recipes and pretty pictures, not looking to moonlight as a snitch.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:02 PM on September 28, 2012 [5 favorites]

I wonder if Pottstown still has the Mrs. Smith's Pie factory. About this time of year would be when the semis with the stake-sided open trailers loaded to the top with pumpkins would be rolling in to town on a regular basis.
posted by radwolf76 at 5:47 PM on September 28, 2012

Cripes, these people might want to call the anonymous tip line instead of snitching with their real name in public!
posted by mkb at 6:05 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

A lot of shoplifters being shamed here.
posted by KokuRyu at 6:22 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

They would get more re-pins if these mug shots included mason-jars-as-drinking-glass and barn weddings.
posted by hot_monster at 6:23 PM on September 28, 2012 [3 favorites]

orme onto Avoid Pottstown
posted by orme at 6:58 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

Interestingly, I just read this story recently about a project to use 404 pages to display images of missing children (the comment on the blog I initially saw the link from said something like "how many milk cartons have you actually drank out of in the past few years?")...

I think there's a bit of intersection in these two projects in terms of them using non-traditional media (and using the tech in ways they weren't originally designed for) in order to find individuals whether criminals or victims of criminals.
posted by symbioid at 9:23 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

A lot of shoplifters being shamed here.

and I wonder what it says about pinterest people that that's the first place they go to set up the narc station
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 11:35 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

I originally processed this as happening in a town called Pottersville, which I guess makes sense.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:33 AM on September 29, 2012 [1 favorite]