Module 1 video 1: Investigating people and social media accounts - Building a Profile

Knight Center

1 Oct 202007:20

Summary

TLDRIn this investigative journalism course, Brandi Zadrazni, an NBC News reporter, teaches how to uncover people's stories and secrets through social media sleuthing. She demonstrates techniques for locating, archiving, and verifying social media accounts, using tools like Google, Namecheck, and reverse image search. The course emphasizes the importance of organization, verification, and using various platforms beyond the mainstream to build a comprehensive profile of a subject.

Takeaways

🔎 Investigative journalism often involves social media sleuthing to uncover a subject's real life and hidden online identities.
🗺️ Locating and archiving social media posts is crucial for breaking big stories quickly, especially those related to violent extremism.
🔍 The first step in social media investigation is usually using Google to search for the target's name, city, and state of residence.
📚 Utilizing Google's 'Tools' option to input a custom date range can help filter out noise and focus on relevant information.
🔑 Finding a username can lead to a broader search across platforms using tools like Namecheck to find availability across multiple sites.
👥 Public records services and free websites can provide relatives and associates useful for verifying accounts.
📧 Searching for emails in data breaches can validate email addresses and provide new leads for investigation.
📷 Reverse image search is a powerful tool for verifying photos and finding associated accounts across different platforms.
👪 Cross-referencing photos, biographical details, and family and friend associations are effective methods for account verification.
📅 Major life events like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries celebrated on social media can offer opportunities for searching and investigating.
📝 Keeping an organized record of findings, verification processes, and evidence through notes, links, archives, and screenshots is essential for reproducing work.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the course module presented by Brandi Zadrazni?
-The course module focuses on investigating people and their social media accounts, teaching how to use social media sleuthing techniques for investigative reporting.
How does social media play a role in investigative reporting according to the transcript?
-Social media platforms offer ways to learn about a subject's real life, secret thoughts, and hidden online identities, which can be crucial for breaking news and in-depth investigations.
What is the first step Brandi Zadrazni usually takes when investigating a person's social media presence?
-Brandi Zadrazni's first step is to use Google to search for the target's name in quotes along with their city and state of residence if available.
What tool or service does Brandi suggest using to find a person's username across multiple platforms?
-Brandi suggests using an online tool like Namecheck, which looks for username availability across various platforms.
How can one verify the authenticity of a social media account that might belong to the person of interest?
-Verification can be done by cross-referencing photos, biographical details, and family and friend associations, as well as using reverse image search to verify details in photos.
What is the significance of birthdays in verifying social media accounts during an investigation?
-Birthdays are significant because they are often celebrated on social media, providing an opportunity to confirm the identity of a person by looking for birthday wishes or posts on their account.
What are some alternative platforms to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that might be relevant for investigating younger targets?
-Alternative platforms include TikTok, gaming platforms, and other social media sites where younger individuals are more likely to be active.
How can one organize the findings during a social media investigation?
-One can use an investigation capture program or maintain a running document and folder system to organize accounts, images, and verification notes.
What is the importance of documenting the verification process and collecting evidence during an investigation?
-Documenting the verification process and collecting evidence ensures that the investigator can reproduce their work and provides a record in case information is deleted or altered.
What are some examples of major life events that can be used to search and investigate social media accounts?
-Examples include weddings, funerals, holidays, anniversaries, and graduations, as these events are often shared on social media and can lead to additional accounts or information.
What are some tools and websites that Brandi Zadrazni mentions for social media investigation?
-Brandi mentions Google, LinkedIn, public records services like LexisNexis, free websites like FastPeopleSearch, and niche search engines for more specific searches.

Outlines

00:00

🕵️‍♀️ Social Media Investigation Techniques

Brandi Zadrazni, an investigative reporter for NBC News, introduces the first module of a course on investigating people and their social media accounts. She emphasizes the importance of social media in uncovering real-life information and hidden identities. Zadrazni shares her approach to locating and archiving social media posts, which is crucial for breaking news stories quickly. She uses her own name for demonstration purposes and instructs viewers to choose a person to investigate. The process involves using Google to search for the target's name, city, and state, and then using tools like Namecheck to find the target's presence across various platforms. She also discusses the importance of verifying accounts through cross-referencing photos, biographical details, and family associations, and suggests using reverse image search for verification. Zadrazni advises keeping an organized record of findings and using various search engines to follow new leads.

05:02

🔎 Advanced Social Media Verification Strategies

In this paragraph, the focus shifts to advanced social media verification strategies. The speaker uses a real-life example of identifying a Twitter account potentially belonging to a mass shooter, leveraging unique handles, photos, and connections to family members on Facebook. The verification process includes using the advanced search function on Twitter and looking for birthday wishes on Facebook to confirm the target's identity. The speaker also provides tips on using platform-specific search functions and considering various platforms beyond the mainstream ones like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They highlight the importance of looking beyond faces, such as cars, homes, and pets, for connecting people and emphasize documenting the verification process with notes, links, archives, and screenshots to ensure reproducibility of the investigation.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Social Media Sleuthing

Social Media Sleuthing refers to the investigative process of using social media platforms to gather information about individuals or subjects. In the video, it is highlighted as a key method for uncovering real-life details and secret thoughts of a person, which is crucial for investigative journalism and reporting. The script mentions how this technique is used to understand motivations behind violent incidents and to build profiles of individuals of interest.

💡Breaking News

Breaking News signifies urgent information that has just occurred and is being reported as it happens. The script discusses how social media posts are essential in breaking big stories quickly, especially in cases where the motivations behind violent events are revealed through social media activity. The term is used to emphasize the immediacy and impact of social media in news reporting.

💡Profile Backgrounding

Profile Backgrounding is the process of researching and compiling information about an individual's background, typically using online resources. The video script describes this as a fundamental part of investigative journalism, where social media platforms offer insights into a subject's real life and hidden identities, which are vital for building a comprehensive profile.

💡Verification

Verification in the context of the video refers to the process of confirming the authenticity of social media accounts and the information associated with them. The script explains various methods of verification, such as cross-referencing photos, biographical details, and family associations, to ensure the accuracy of the gathered information.

💡Google

Google, as mentioned in the script, is the primary search engine used for initial searches of a target's name, along with their city and state of residence. It is a fundamental tool for investigative reporters to start building a profile and to find initial leads in their research.

💡Namecheck

Namecheck is an online tool used to determine the availability of a username across multiple platforms. In the video, it is used to find a trail of a person's online presence beyond what is typically picked up by search engines, which can include unexpected places like comment sections and forums.

💡Data Breaches

Data Breaches are incidents where unauthorized individuals gain access to private information. The script discusses using sites that search data breaches to validate email addresses and provide new leads, which is an important aspect of verifying the identity of individuals in investigative journalism.

💡Reverse Image Search

Reverse Image Search is a technique used to find other instances of a particular image on the internet. The video script provides an example of how it can be used to verify details in a photo and find multiple new accounts, which is a valuable method for investigative reporters to connect individual accounts and build a network around their target.

💡Platform's Native Search Functions

Platform's Native Search Functions refer to the built-in search tools within social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The script advises using these functions in addition to search engines like Google to find and investigate accounts, emphasizing the importance of not focusing solely on one platform.

💡Documenting Verification Process

Documenting the Verification Process involves keeping a record of how accounts and information were verified. The script stresses the importance of this practice, as it ensures that the investigative work can be reproduced if necessary, and it helps in preserving evidence that might be deleted.

💡Username Search Engines

Username Search Engines are tools that help find where a particular username is used across different platforms. The video script highlights their usefulness, especially for younger targets who might be more active on platforms like TikTok or gaming platforms, where these search engines can provide valuable leads.

Highlights

Introduction to the course on investigating people and social media accounts by Brandi Zadrozny, an investigative and features reporter for NBC News.

Importance of social media sleuthing in nearly every story reported, including breaking news and longer investigations.

Social media platforms as a key to learning about a subject's real life and hidden online identities.

Locating and archiving social media posts as crucial for breaking big stories quickly, including those revealing motivations behind violent extremist activities.

Using Google to search for a target's name in quotes along with their city and state of residence as the first step in the investigative process.

Utilizing Google's tools option and custom date range to filter search results relevant to a breaking news event.

Using public records services like LexisNexis or free websites like FastPeopleSearch to find relatives and associates for profile building.

Introducing Namecheck, an online tool for checking username availability across multiple platforms.

Emphasizing the importance of searching comment sections, reviews, and forums for potential leads on a subject's online presence.

Verifying new usernames or emails found by re-Googling them to gather additional information.

Using data breach search sites to validate email addresses and find new leads.

Recommendation to search major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok using their native search features.

The necessity of keeping an organized record of findings, including a running document and a folder for collected accounts and images.

Highlighting the verification process for social media accounts, including cross-referencing photos, biographical details, and family associations.

Using reverse image search to verify details in photos and find multiple new accounts.

Example of using reverse image search to connect accounts and build a network around a target in a case study involving anti-vaccination groups.

Strategies for verifying social media accounts of individuals who are not public figures but become newsworthy, such as mass shooters.

The use of birthdays, weddings, funerals, holidays, and anniversaries as markers for searching and investigating social media accounts.

Tips for searching targets using platform's native search functions and considering platforms beyond the usual suspects like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Advice on documenting the verification process and collecting evidence to ensure reproducibility of work.