Understanding Dynamics in Social Media Searches

By Franki Russell posted 09-05-2024 13:10

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Please enjoy this blog authored by Josh Janow, CEO of SMI Aware.

Introduction
Social media is often dismissed as a chaotic mix of noise, opinions, and superficial content—a digital cesspool where finding valuable information seems impossible. However, within this vast sea of posts, likes, and shares lies a treasure trove of data crucial for discovery, due diligence, and investigations. The challenge isn't just in accessing this information but in navigating the technical and ethical complexities that come with it. Unearthing relevance from the flood of content requires skill, precision, and a deep understanding of the dynamics at play.

Defining the Scope of the Search
The number of social media platforms and the volume of publicly available content are expanding at an exponential rate. Despite this content being theoretically available, significant barriers exist in identifying and collecting the most relevant information. Accurately associating users with their various usernames adds another layer of complexity, often requiring specialized technology and investigative skills. Navigating these challenges ethically and ensuring compliance is crucial, as the information you seek is frequently buried within a mix of other users’ content, scattered across different platforms.

Balancing the need for a comprehensive search with the necessity of narrowing results to relevant data is a significant challenge. To achieve this, it’s crucial to define a clear scope for your search. This can be accomplished by setting parameters such as date ranges, case types, or specific keywords of interest. Implementing a scalable, repeatable process—guided by a skilled human analyst—ensures that your research remains thorough and that the data collected is reliable.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Interpreting data from social media and open-source platforms is often more art than science. While technology such as AI, web crawlers, and bots can efficiently gather vast amounts of data, they often struggle with the nuances and complexities of human communication. As social media continues to evolve, incorporating new forms of expression like emojis, slang, and layered cultural references, and evaluating pictures and videos, the limitations of automated tools become evident. These technologies may miss critical subtleties or misinterpret context, leading to gaps in the data that could be crucial in a legal setting.

This is where the value of human expertise comes into play. A human analyst, particularly one with a deep understanding of the specific scope, is indispensable for interpreting and contextualizing the data. They cross reference information across platforms to match alias accounts with individuals. Analysts also discern potential relevance of certain pieces of information, recognize patterns, and draw connections that automated tools might overlook. Moreover, human analysts are adept at adapting to the unique requirements of each case, ensuring that the analysis aligns with the specific fact patterns and legal strategies involved.

In essence, while technology provides the tools to collect and organize vast amounts of data, it is the human element that brings meaning and insight to that data. The ability to analyze and interpret social media content with a nuanced understanding of both the digital landscape and the legal context ensures that the information collected is not only accurate but also actionable and relevant to the case at hand.

Maximizing Data Usage
Once data is collected, its value is significantly enhanced by how it is organized and summarized. In the context of legal investigations, organizing information in a clear, concise manner (i.e., a report format) is crucial for ensuring that the deep insights collected can be easily understood by legal teams, and other stakeholders. Well-organized data allows for quicker analysis, helping to identify key insights and connections that might otherwise be overlooked.

Moreover, summarizing social media and open-source information in a structured format is essential for integrating it with other e-discovery data sets allowing it to be cross-referenced, searched, and analyzed alongside other evidence, creating a more comprehensive view of the case. Without proper organization and summarization, even the most relevant data can become unwieldy, difficult to interpret, and less impactful in the legal process. Therefore, investing time and resources into effective data management not only aids in the immediate understanding of the information but also streamlines the overall e-discovery process, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of legal proceedings.

Technical Challenges - Collection and Preservation
In the realm of open-source information discovery and preservation, technical challenges abound. Successfully navigating these challenges requires more than just basic research skills; it demands in-depth knowledge of social media platforms, and the use of advanced technology and tools designed to support these complex collection efforts. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the task of thoroughly finding and preserving information online becomes increasingly intricate.

Simply capturing screenshots or saving data to a desktop or virtual folder is insufficient. For information collected from social media and open-source platforms to be admissible in legal contexts, it must be authenticated through a rigorous collection process that includes the preservation of source code data. This authentication ensures that the data’s integrity is maintained, making it possible to defend in legal proceedings.

Understanding Privacy and Consent
Navigating the landscape of social media requires a deep understanding of both platform-specific community standards and the ethical duties that govern legal professionals. Although open-source information is public, the rules surrounding how this information can be collected, stored, and accessed are stringent, and adherence to these rules is non-negotiable.

Private Profiles
Social media users have the option to privatize their accounts, effectively limiting public access to their content and details. It is crucial to understand that attempting to circumvent these privacy settings—whether by "friending" the subject under false pretenses or using other deceptive means— may violate the community standards of the social media platform and can jeopardize the defensibility of your findings.

However, a private profile does not spell the end of the road for discovery. Ethical search methods, aligned with platform standards, may still uncover relevant public content through the networks of family, friends, or acquaintances. Furthermore, monitoring changes in privacy settings can be valuable. If a profile transitions from private to public, it can be documented for collection. Finally, once a private profile is identified, formal discovery requests can request the underlying content and require preservation.

Consent & Privacy Obligations
Open-source information is publicly viewable, making it accessible to those who can locate it without needing explicit consent from the subject. However, when this information is collected for specific purposes, such as employment, credit decisions, or other types of consumer-related decision-making, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) imposes stricter requirements in the United States. Under the FCRA, if the information gathered from social media or other open sources is used to compile a consumer report—which can influence employment, lending, or housing decisions—notice must be provided to the individual, and their explicit consent must be obtained before the information is collected. Additionally, the FCRA mandates that any adverse actions taken based on this information must be disclosed to the individual, including the source of the information used.

Your jurisdiction may also create obligations once you become a custodian of any personally identifying information even if the information was collected from a public source.

Summary
Navigating the complexities of social media and open-source research requires a combination of specialized tools, techniques, and expertise. Successfully collecting and analyzing relevant information online involves not only the right technology but also a deep understanding of the ethical, legal, and technical challenges involved. With the landscape constantly evolving, having the right partner can make all the difference in ensuring that your data is both comprehensive and compliant.
A well-designed social media search will avoid inadvertent contact with counterparties, incorporate hard-to-find usernames and profiles, include all forms of social media, and curate the content for relevancy so that it can be brought into the working file of a case or eDiscovery platform. Services like SMI Aware can be an effective tool for lawyers across practice areas.

If you have any questions or need assistance, contact SMI Aware to learn more about our products and services for social media and open-source information collection.