Social media and technology impact our lives in more ways than we can imagine. However, there are broader applications to the user-generated content that we consume and produce on a daily basis. In fact, this content speaks volumes about our society, our priorities, our triggers, and our behavioral drivers. It has also been a successful tool for legal teams in litigation through the use of Forensic Media Psychology (FMP).
What is Forensic Media Psychology?
FMP is an extension of Forensic Psychology that utilizes rigorous research and systematic observations to “under-stand the mental constructs that provoke informed behavior” (T. T. Luskin, Luskin, B.J., 1998). This ground-breaking forensic field has emerged by combining media analysis, research, and psychology. Consequently, Forensic Media analysis focuses on understanding cognitive illusions and the effect of memory on associations and experiences. In other words, how our opinions and actions are impacted by what we see in the media.
Civil and criminal litigation cases have been the driving force behind the development of this type of analysis. FMP regularly impacts court decisions in a growing number of cases. Recently, there has been an increase in discussions about the impact of continuous media coverage on juries and trials. Individuals are now able to effortlessly broadcast news reports from their cell phones which can lead to exposure of outside opinions and perspectives. This type of evidence can influence jurors opinions creating ethical concerns.
How Forensic Media Psychology and Social Media Converge
Social media is rapidly changing how people share information and express opinions which delivers evidence that needs to be appropriately captured in order for it to be admissible in a court of law. Analysis of social platforms presents ever-changing applications, links, techniques, and even roadblocks that are being discovered daily. While it was previously easier to extract digital evidence from structured platforms like public records and corroborate the findings through a third party, this is not the case with social media. Evidence posted online can easily be manipulated and altered as people update, delete, or lock down their privacy settings, which presents its own challenges and ethical questions.
When applied to Social Media, FMP provides a wealth of information that can be captured and analyzed to support or debunk legal strategies. Currently, FMP is primarily being used in civil and criminal litigation. Results offer an array of insights into social media users and how they think. Given the malleable nature of human perception and memory, hard evidence that can be found on social media cannot be ignored by litigators.
While its applications to the analysis of social media are still emerging, Forensic Media Psychology impacts other areas of law. As social media usage increases, it’s important to have expert analysts and reliable technology. The combination of experts and tech ensure validated identifications, facts, and other data points.
FMP’s highly applicable nature and flexibility yield countless results which can also be applied to cases such as:
- Cyber-terrorism
- Cyber-bullying
- Worker’s Compensation
- Risk Assessment
- Theft of Intellectual Property
- Crowd Behavior
- Vehicle Accidents
- Criminal Activity
Forensics Applied by SMI Aware Experts
Most people think of social media evidence in a more traditional way, like damning images, videos, and even statements posted on social media. But there are many layers of data that can be extracted from these platforms. At SMI Aware, FMP helps our analysts understand cognitive bias in social media profiles, posts, and connections.
Additionally, this methodology is broadly used by our in-house analysts to evaluate the content of social media posts, comments, and narratives. From this analysis, our team identifies writing styles, language patterns, and overall context. These data points help draw conclusions about authorship and identify connections between a subject and their potential aliases.
Social media research & analysis and Forensic Media Psychology are complex topics. Trained intelligence professionals must participate as “social media eyewitnesses.” In addition, they must observe, capture, and preserve digital evidence in compliance with current laws and regulations. Analysts must have technical ability, analytical skills, ethical understanding, and legal comprehension.
FMP and social media analysis are necessary tools for litigators. SMI Aware team of in-house analysts are experts at social media research and discovery. They also maintain expert knowledge of tools, technologies, and techniquest to find public information. Each finding in our reports is accompanied by a detailed analysis as well as source code for proper preservation.
Let our SMI Aware professionals be your social media eyewitnesses.
