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Photo and video sharing on popular social media platforms gives insight into the day-to-day life of a person. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then significant insight into a person’s routine, perspective, and abilities can tell a story about the life of a person before, during, and after an accident. More and more, litigators are permitted to admit photos and videos to make their case in court. …
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Privatized Social Media
Privatized social media platforms such as BeReal and Snapchat have gained a lot of attention in recent years, mainly among younger adults. There are many benefits to using more privatized forms of social media as opposed to popular, public platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. While traditional social media platforms have been criticized for years for enabling online bullying, targeting, ...
New NLRB Ruling Impacts Employee Discipline Over Outbursts
On May 1, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed its 2020 ruling from General Motors LLC in Lion Elastomers LLC Il, changing the standards relating to discipline or discharge of workers who overstep with offensive or abusive outbursts while engaging in activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The new employee discipline ruling grants more protection to employees during certain work-related activities when such misconduct is observed and is evaluated based on the context of the work-related activity. ...
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Thousands of social media platforms are home to billions of users around the globe. And information online can be elusive. How can you be sure you turned over every social media stone and looked in every corner of the web? How do you know when your search has been exhaustive? The truth is, you don’t know what you don’t know.
What you might not know:
You may be familiar with popular social media platforms like Facebook, ...
The Truth About Truth Social
What is Truth Social?
In October 2021, former President Donald Trump announced the launch of his new social media application, Truth Social. People say that the platform provides a new space for “big voices” that mainstream social media companies like Twitter and Facebook have silenced. The launch of Truth Social comes after Trump was banned from Twitter and other social media platforms following the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, ...
The Difference between the Deep and Dark Web
The web is like an iceberg – at surface level, we can only see a small portion, but a much larger mass concealed beneath the water, hidden from view. The web has three distinct layers: the surface web, the deep web, and the dark web. When relying on open source intelligence for evidence collection, ...
Admitting social media and deep web findings into evidence is not difficult, but it does require ethical considerations and prompt action. You need to ensure that you have:
Verified the creation and ownership of the content with a witness,
Collected and preserved the content promptly and ethically to safeguard against deletions and alterations,
Gathered relevant electronic device records that correspond to the social media content, ...
Social media intelligence is the collection, curation, and analysis of online media data to answer a specific question or provide useful insights into the actions, habits and motivations of an individual or group.
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Verified Social Media Account
Ever wonder what that blue checkmark on a person’s social media profile image means? It indicates that the user owns a “verified social media account.” And at Meta, they’re opening up opportunities for social media users on Facebook and Instagram the opportunity to verify their accounts.
What does verification mean?
Account verification is a process that protects social media’s most popular users from impersonation. ...
The Human Touch: a Critical Part of Online Investigations
Written in collaboration with Stephanie Fikisz and ChatGPT
Human intelligence should not be separated from artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of modern technology, transforming the way businesses operate and people live their lives. AI software can process large amounts of data and make predictions based on patterns it discovers, enabling businesses to optimize their operations and make informed decisions. ...
The Next Evolution in Social Connection: The Metaverse
In late 2021, Facebook, Inc. announced a rebrand as “Meta” and would be shifting its focus to creating the Metaverse. According to Meta, the Metaverse is the “next evolution in social connection and the successor to the mobile internet.” Announcements have been made about the various purposes and capabilities of the Metaverse, leaving many people excited for its release. It has been said that people will be able to use it as an alternative to online meeting applications, ...
Peeking Into Someone’s Mind
friendsWe can’t read people’s minds, but we can read their social media posts. Social media posts can be insightful. With the prevalence of social media, people share a lot of information online making it easy to replicate a user’s profile and gauge their state of mind.
Social media posts, shares, videos, likes, messages, and photos allow you to create a complete story about a subject. ...
Preservation of Social Media Evidence
Social media evidence can be quite helpful in ensuring successful court proceedings or investigations. Lawyers can share posts, images, videos, and active content in court to prove a case. However, defending it in court offers a major challenge, unlike other forms of evidence.
For one, it requires a process to document a subject’s activities, analyze and curate data, and preserve the information investigators collected online. ...
The Freedom of Information Act
Written in Collaboration with Lauren Honhart
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into law in 1966. Since then, the FOIA has provided the public with the right to request access to records from any federal agency. Unless the requested information is protected from disclosure by law, all information is eligible. Information may be exempt from disclosure to protect interests such as personal privacy, ...
Videos v. Images: What SMI Aware Can Do to Capture Your Content
The growth of social media has changed virtually everything, impacting human interactions in ways we couldn’t have imagined. It offers a platform for networking, social interactions, and marketing. Nowadays, lawyers and investigation teams use it to collect defensible social media evidence for litigations and investigations.
Social media thrives on images and videos, synonymous with teens and Gen Z. Video is trendy on TikTok and YouTube, ...
How Big a Class Are We Talking?
Big Class? You Need a Scalable Investigation
Class action cases can come with a lot of baggage. While normally, a regular case can have one or two plaintiffs, some class actions can have hundreds of plaintiffs with claims against a product or service. With a large number of plaintiffs, it can be challenging for a small group of attorneys to manage. ...
