Twitter account @MeanStreetsOMA loses all its contributors

[Enhance]

This is... such an odd story.

LINK

Twitter was abuzz Tuesday after MeanStreets Omaha, a popular social media account, lost all of its contributors in the wake of racist and expletive-ridden tweets over the last few weeks.

Seven people who anonymously wrote posts or took photos for MeanStreets — known for tweeting “death, destruction and funny stuff from the streets of Omaha” — have cut ties with the creator, citing differences over “content and message.” All revealed their identities — some in letters in a tweet before their access was taken away, but that tweet has now been deleted.

To be honest, I'm in no way sad to see this account blow up like this (even though some people think it's a hoax). Although they often provided a modicum of entertainment, and could be seen as a public safety tool, the last couple of months are not the first time the account made questionable decisions. I stopped following them two years ago because they would routinely pick childish fights with local journalists and then hide behind their anonymity.

There's also something to be said about relying on trained professionals for information versus a handful of anonymous people listening to police scanners 24/7. The article referenced one instance of them releasing information that could've put officers at risk but there were others.

I know some of the contributors and they're not bad people, so I do feel bummed for them, but I'm otherwise not disappointed.

 

[Cdog923]

Not a big loss, IMO. I followed Mean Streets for awhile, but their schtick got old quickly. It's handy to know about accidents, lane restrictions and other newsworthy items that might not get covered as quickly by traditional outlets, but it doesn't surprise me that whomever is the originator of the account has some problems, as you could tell (by the antagonistic tweets towards police, fire, rescue and even their own followers) when that individual had control of the account. 

 

[RedSavage]

I follow them and think the whole thing by the creator was childish.  I haven't stopped following them (yet).  Weird thing is, yesterday afternoon/evening the account was back to posting their normal stuff as if none of that happened.

 

[knapplc]

I know some of the contributors and they're not bad people, so I do feel bummed for them, but I'm otherwise not disappointed.

I followed MSO but didn't pay much attention to it. I did not know it was a group of people contributing to the feed, or that it was a closet business.

I suppose I should have known that a lot of the accounts I follow are multiple people. I just never thought about it before.