The @OUScanner twitter account will tweet no more after the creator of the account revealed his identity and announced he will not be in Athens next semester to run the account.
The popular Twitter account @OUScanner will send out its last tweet today.
Kevin Robinson, who ran the account anonymously, revealed his identity and said he will not be in Athens next semester.
“The simple reason why I’m going to stop is just that I won’t be in Athens next semester,” Robinson said. “My final semester will be taken online in anticipation of receiving possible full-time employment after my internship this summer.”
Robinson is a first-year graduate student studying information and telecommunications.
@OUScanner kept Bobcats up to date through live tweets from the police and fire scanners in Athens.
“I need to physically have the scanner here to listen in on it; (I) just won’t be able to do it anymore,” Robinson said.
The Twitter account started on Nov. 13, 2013 after the @AthensScanner account died out following a short-lived Twitter life. @AthensScanner first tweeted on Jan. 23, 2013 and last tweeted on Oct. 27, 2013.
Robinson was involved with @AthensScanner and worked with the account owner for about a week.
“He had a volunteer program and from doing that I found a real interest in being able to listen to that stuff and be able to report,” Robinson said. “Combining it with the social media aspect was really interesting.”
When the owner of the @AthensScanner account “mysteriously vanished,” Robinson saw an opening. After departing from @AthensScanner, he took an interest in listening to police feeds.
“I had already purchased a scanner then so I kind of just grew from that point. I had seen a need,” Robinson said.
@OUScanner consistently live-tweeted 911 situations and emergency incidents.
“The most common things I tweet are generic EMS calls to residential halls and other places, pretty much all fire calls,” Robinson told The Post in September.
He said his favorite part of the job is being able to interact with the students.
“People view it as an information service. … Most of what I send out is combined between what I hear from the scanner and the pictures and information I’m getting from the community,” Robinson said.
Robinson said running the account keeps him more informed as a person, just as it keeps fellow Athens residents informed.
“So I think that’s my favorite part, that reciprocal relationship,” Robinson said.
@OUScanner has more than 11,000 followers and is following more than 200 accounts.
“I’m glad to have the support of the chiefs of police at both OUPD and Athens Police,” Robinson said, adding that it has been a pleasure to able to run the account. “They have been very supportive along with a lot of university staff, students and the volunteer that helped me.”
We are announcing the end of our service. See our official statement below. pic.twitter.com/B0BpYhqmi6
— OU Scanner (@OUScanner) April 27, 2015
@megankhenry
