When it comes to most apps, you’ve got power users and you’ve got passive users. Passive users might download an app, sure, but they only lurk there from time to time; maybe they forget the app exists on their phone altogether. The power users, though, help shape what an app ultimately is. They spend hours engaging with it, creating and sharing content for free, and contributing to the kind of commentary that keeps people coming back. That’s true on social media apps, and it’s especially true on something like Citizen.
Citizen is an app that encourages people to live-stream incidents occurring in their neighborhoods. Trained technicians hired by Citizen listen for official emergency dispatches, then send alerts to users through the app. Some power users even listen to police scanners themselves, hurrying to the scene to film whatever’s happening. While some of the events are relatively benign, others might be dangerous or violent—and Citizen users are there, right in the middle of the action. People have used Citizen to livestream gas leaks, fires, hit-and-runs, and knife fights. And, while the app has been ar