201E – SMI Social Media Intelligence & Investigation

Social Media Intelligence (SMI or SOCMINT) is processed information, sourced from online social platforms and applications that facilitate and enable the collecting, monitoring, and analysis of up-to-date online sentiment and social commentary. The rich and varied information available from social platforms may be live or historical, opinion or fact, text or multi-media, proprietary or crowd-sourced; depending on the data provided by each source, and an investigator’s ability to cross-reference the data across platforms and tools, a comprehensive profile of an individual, location, or event can often be built quickly and accurately. To recognize, collect, and leverage the value of social platform-sourced information, research and investigative professionals must fully understand the limitations, restrictions, and legal implications of obtaining, and utilizing, such information in a manner that user privacy expectations, license agreements, and other legal limitations are not violated. Social Media Intelligence & Investigation will introduce research and investigative professionals to a variety of essential tools and techniques necessary to locate, collect, and utilize social platform-sourced information, and introduce investigators to the considerations and implications of leveraging this type of information safely and appropriately. 16 CPE credits earned upon passing the exam.