Billions of people use social media. That means social media data is no longer a fringe element—it’s a central part of discovery. But the sheer volume of content means that social media investigations must be consistent, repeatable, and scalable. A single person—or even a small internal team—may not have the capacity to meet these demands. When investigations are rushed or inconsistently conducted, evidence can be missed, mishandled, or ruled inadmissible. That’s why firms looking to scale discovery efforts efficiently and defensibly are turning to third-party experts who specialize in scalable social media investigations.
Time Constraints
When done properly, social media discovery is a time-consuming, detail-oriented task. For many firms, that work often falls to an attorney, paralegal, or support staff member—on top of their existing workload. In the short term, this might work. But it’s not sustainable. Social media evidence collection demands both time and precision. When staff are stretched thin, the quality of discovery suffers—and so does the case.
Inconsistency
Without standard operating procedures and scalable technology, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee consistency in data collection and analysis. Inconsistent methods introduce risk: evidence may not meet admissibility standards, and ethical boundaries may be crossed unintentionally. When there’s no reliable, repeatable process, there’s no defensibility.
Excessive Workload
Big law firms often have the resources to divide work among specialists. But even in large firms, social media research is sometimes an afterthought, handled by whoever has time. Smaller firms may offer personalized service, but they’re often limited in how much they can take on. Either way, overloading internal teams with online discovery responsibilities slows them down—and exposes the firm to risk when volume increases.
Achieving Scalable Social Media Investigations
In today’s legal environment, scalable social media investigations are not a luxury—they’re a necessity. Outsourcing this work to a trusted third-party expert ensures that each investigation is performed to the same high standard, no matter how many you need.
SMI Aware makes that possible.
We combine proprietary technology with the expertise of independent in-house analysts to deliver consistent, high-volume discovery and analysis. Our application standardizes the search and collection process, so every report meets the same defensible criteria—every time.
Let’s talk about how we can support your next social media investigation or open-source project.
