Facebook: The truth is out there
… Facebook is a good source for data mining.
But one problem is that information gathered is not verified independently.
“These are not facts, just hearsay,” the former Criminal Investigation Department trainer said. “For digital photos, you can’t prove they are original as photos can be manipulated and put on the Web. You can’t authenticate them unless you get the original files from the photographer.”
He added: “This way of getting information is more trendy…but the information should be verified by conducting a proper investigation.”
Only when it is backed up will it be admissible as court evidence, he said.
… [it is] not inconceivable for someone to falsify their whereabouts on such sites.
“There really is no way of proving who was at the computer, which is the problem with any Internet-based investigation,” he said. “Today, one can update Facebook status or tweet Twitter from any device at any location.”
This is an excellent article on the value of searching social sites.
Someone hacked into my facebook and said terrible things to my friends
in my name. Their one of many mistakes was they said to the person
“text me” and we don’t have texting..I think I know who did it but can’t prove it. I closed off facebook.
I think that information gleaned from social networking sites may be useful as ’stepping stones’ in an investigation, ie possible leads to pursue further, but must be corroborated and not taken at face value.
Taking information provided as ‘gospel’ is just being lazy.