Crowdsourcing Crime Prevention!

May 7, 2010 2:43 PM

Want to earn tons of cool badges and prizes while competing with you friends to see who can be the best American? It's up to you to keep America safe! If you see something suspicious, Snap it! If you see someone who doesn't belong, Snap it! Not sure if someone or something is suspicious? Snap it anyway!
posted by boo_radley (24 comments total)

Remember, zone passes are required at all times. Display passes
properly. All inter-zone day workers with zone passes are reminded that
curfews begin at midnight. Anyone without a valid zone card after
midnight will be permanently detained. Cadre kids, don't forget October
is bonus recruitment month, earn a double bonus for reporting a family
member. ICS your entertainment and information network remind you
seeing is believing.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:45 PM on May 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

Created in 2008 by George Parsons and Winston O'Brien, MiniTru LLC leverages modern technology to address the timeless threats to democracy and freedom.

:)
posted by lholladay at 2:45 PM on May 7, 2010

I realize that some (most?) people might not have an android phone or the wherewithal to install its desktop sdk, so for more info please check out the FAQ.
posted by boo_radley at 2:48 PM on May 7, 2010

If you see something suspicious, Snap it! If you see someone who doesn't belong, Snap it! Not sure if someone or something is suspicious? Snap it anyway!

That shit is easily fooled.
posted by gman at 2:48 PM on May 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

We are funded by a variety of organizations, including but not limited to CCTV UK, Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, XE, and the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies.

*squints*
posted by Sticherbeast at 2:51 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

SnapScouts was designed and developed for children to use, before they form stereotypes of other people. They're the perfect reporters, unbiased and unprejudiced by media concepts.

Man, there is a gene out there that needs to be eradicated.
posted by jsavimbi at 2:51 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Laying it on a bit thick, but cute as far as that goes.
posted by cortex at 2:53 PM on May 7, 2010

Please tell me they mean this as a parody?

Please???

_please?
posted by pla at 2:57 PM on May 7, 2010

dear Pla - yes, it’s a parody.
posted by silence at 3:03 PM on May 7, 2010

pla, your skepticism is ungood, possibly a thoughtcrime. Please report to Inner Party member O'Brien in Room 101
posted by lekvar at 3:17 PM on May 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

It took me until I read one of the testimonials. I wouldn't be surprised.
posted by jardinier at 3:29 PM on May 7, 2010

We made SnapScouts because America is the land of freedom, and the only way to check the government is to distribute power to the local level turn everyone into informal, unpaid agents of it.

Glad it's a parody. These things are getting harder and harder to spot these days.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 3:55 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's a bad sign that I was totally ready to believe this wasn't a parody, right?
posted by The Whelk at 4:10 PM on May 7, 2010

Created in 2008 by George Parsons and Winston O'Brien, MiniTru LLC leverages modern technology to address the timeless threats to democracy and freedom.

:)

Some missed those hints, but one commenter spelled it out:

I'm calling hoax. The designers are called MiniTru, as in Ministry of Truth. The name Winston O'Brien is a reference to the main character of 1984 and the guy who tortures him. The name Parsons is a reference to Winston Smith's next door neighbors with the kids who belong to the youth league and spy on everyone.

I forgot those details, too.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:32 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

See, this is exactly the sort of thing you can share without any context on Facebook or Friendster or whatever social networking site and learn all kinds of shit you didn't want to know about your friends.
posted by JaredSeth at 4:58 PM on May 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

I respectfully submit that George Parsons and Winston O'Brien may, and stress may, be bottom feeders.
posted by the noob at 6:34 PM on May 7, 2010

Safe Beneath the Watchful Eye ... of children.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:59 PM on May 7, 2010

...we empower real Americans to connect and share the mini-truths we can't always say out loud, but keep America the greatest country in the world.
I've read this sentence several times now, and I'm no closer to understanding it, though my spidersense (and umm judging from the rest of the page), it means something sinister. What mini-truths?
posted by Monkeymoo at 7:13 PM on May 7, 2010

Help law enforcement collect evidence in real-time!

Because police are having a hard time manufacturing probable cause by themselves!
posted by zinc saucier at 7:40 PM on May 7, 2010

Me thread read good.
posted by zinc saucier at 7:42 PM on May 7, 2010

Subtle. The best parody is the one where you're not sure if it's real or not.
posted by delmoi at 7:54 PM on May 7, 2010

Nah, if it were real it would be available for iPhones.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:56 PM on May 7, 2010

Nah, if it were real it would be available for iPhones.

Or they're waiting for the app store gods to accept their submission
posted by the noob at 8:43 PM on May 7, 2010

Testimonials

Just a few of the stories that have helped make SnapScouts one of the top preventative crime downloads of 2010!

“My eight-year old caught the gardner smoking something suspicious. It wasn’t marijuana, but it turns out he was illegal!”
- Phyllis Specter, 32, Idaho

Truly well done. The site is nice and subtle. :)
posted by zarq at 7:10 AM on May 8, 2010