After twelve years of dedicated effort, the number of followers of Force’s social media across nine major platforms have exceeded seven million, making them the most followed among HKSAR Government departments and establishing a robust digital communication bridge. Behind this enormous achievement is the effort of many team members, including Senior Inspector Chan Yat-ting who is mainly responsible for content creation and platform management.

Coinciding with the second anniversary of the official Police Douyin account on November 19 and the sixth anniversary of the Force’s motto “Serving Hong Kong with Honour, Duty and Loyalty”, Chan Yat-ting, as an editor, shared the three key principles derived from frontline practical experience - “continuous and dedicated efforts”, “cross-sector collaboration” and “bold exploration” - demonstrating that small roles can also create significant impact.

Continuous and dedicated efforts - Balancing speed and depth

Chan Yat-ting noted that the team strives to respond promptly to incidents of public concern. Last year, they conducted an average of two live broadcasts per day. Even if there was no live footage, they quickly released updates in text form. “Racing against time is demanding, but the greatest satisfaction comes from seeing netizens share our first-hand content, building trust through accuracy and timeliness,” she frankly said.

She emphasised that content must match the characteristics of the platform to resonate with audiences. For example, during the wartime bomb incident in Quarry Bay, Facebook focused on action photos, while Douyin and Xiaohongshu highlighted traffic arrangements. The team even converted images into short videos to enhance communication effectiveness.

Furthermore, the team further leveraged trending topics by immediately inviting Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau expert to provide professional explanation after the bomb has been disposed of, enhancing public understanding of police work. “We have shifted from a one-way ‘I tell you’ approach to a citizen-centred ‘what do you want to see’ interactive model”, Chan Yat-ting noted.

Cross-sector collaboration - Broadening reach beyond existing audiences

The Force actively promotes cross-sector collaboration. It not only produced community-focused programmes that reached households with local television stations and also collaborated with international movie icon Donnie Yen, the late artiste Hui Shiu-hung, and influencers such as the Emei Kung Fu Girls. “These well-known figures generously share their audiences, helping us go beyond existing audiences so that police information can reach more citizens,” Chan Yat-ting said.

Bold exploration - New platforms, new audiences, new impact

To engage younger audiences, Chinese Mainland people residing in Hong Kong, and Chinese Mainland visitors, the Force was amongst the first Government department that established a presence on Xiaohongshu and Douyin, which was pioneering. Xiaohongshu focuses on practical guides, while Douyin features fast-paced short videos to attract younger viewers. “Over the past year, our Douyin account ranked third nationwide among government accounts in terms of follower growth, with nearly five million followers”, Chan Yat-ting shared. She also revealed in advance that distinguished guest would appear in the upcoming second anniversary for creating wonderful content.

In addition to gradually establishing public trust in the Force through daily efforts, Chan Yat-ting also hoped to continuously connect local, Chinese Mainland and international audiences so as to connect with both the Chinese Mainland and the world. She emphasised, “Every ‘like’ is encouragement, and every ‘share’ is recognition. We will tell good police stories in an all-round way through the 15th National Games, as well as the INTERPOL General Assembly in Hong Kong next year to showcase to the world the Force’s professional image ‘Serving Hong Kong with Honour, Duty and Loyalty’”.