Netizens' role in the Boston manhunt

[eyer]

Did digital detectives help or hinder the search for the Boston bombers?

THE manhunt for the bombers behind the Boston Marathon attacks didn't only involve the police.

In an era of digital interactivity, it also unfolded around the country from laptops and desk chairs filled with regular folks.

Fueled by Twitter, online forums like Reddit and 4Chan, smartphones and relays of police scanners, thousands of people played armchair detective as police searched for men who turned out to be suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, ethnic Chechen brothers who had immigrated from southern Russia years ago.

But as amateur online sleuths began identifying possible culprits, caught in the virtual manhunt there were people who were wrongly accused or placed under suspicion by crowd-sourcing. It showed the damage that digital investigators can cause and raised a relevant question: In the social-media generation, what does law enforcement unleash when, by implication, it deputizes the public for help?

Full piece here:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/technolo...e-boston-bombers/story-fnhod511-1226625115727

 

[Voodoo5150]

While pointing out people for others to keep track of in other photos is fine, the problem was 99.99% of them just went "OMG, BACKPACK! TURRURIST!" Then proceeded to find people remotely identical on Facebook or Twitter and then terrorist shame them (the new slut shaming!).