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Riots & Reddit Have Something In Common

Riots and Reddit are probably not something you would think have anything in common. However, because of the way Reddit is organized, it has been a resource for investigative journalism. It is heavily used for the monitoring of riots across the US.

Let’s start with the basis. What is Reddit, you may ask? Reddit is a large group of forums that discuss all kinds of topics of interest. The site explains itself as the “front page of the internet,” and that’s not an empty boast. Reddit is the sixth most popular site in the United States, according to Alexa, and the 18th worldwide.

Within Reddit are Subreddits. Subreddits are pretty much what they sound like, subgroups that are more specific in nature topic wise. Some of the subreddits are public, while others are private. They’re denoted by /r/, followed by the subreddit’s name, e.g., /r/gaming. The site has many “web sleuths” who use the power or crowdsourcing to reveal video footage of events all across the world.

Portland Subreddit Group

Portland, Oregon has a subreddit page that has 170,000 members and offers live streaming of events. r/Portland is the name of the subreddit. It contains lively conversation, Twitter resources that journalists are using to post about what is happening each night in their city and much more. It is one example of how a subreddit can be used within Reddit for riot monitoring.

Local Resident Uses Subreddit to Assist Police in Hit and Run

Here is a great example on the worth of understanding how Reddit works. One user posted an image of a piece of broken taillight, asking if anyone could identify the type of vehicle it came from. After 400 comments and some back and forth, it was identified correctly by make and model. The user was able to go to his local police station, place a report of a hit and run and provide the officer with the information. This helped aid the officer in finding the owner of the vehicle based on the proof.

Reddit has grown its user base by 30% year-over-year, according to new data released by the company Wednesday. The self-proclaimed front page of the internet now reaches 430 million monthly active users, who collectively have created 199 million posts and 1.7 billion comments.Dec 4, 2019
source: Varitey.com

Interestingly enough, Reddit is an excellent resource for the Private Investigator or OSINT (open source intelligence) professional. In fact, I believe it is just as important as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. So, the next time you are ready to do your own online investigation, don’t forget to check Reddit!

Using Social Media Apps for Research

In the world of social media research for investigations, Apps are often times over looked. There is such a high priority given to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, that often times people stop there.

Some social media apps are designed to be used by mobile phone only. Some allow both mobile and desktop login’s. Most of the time the desktop login’s are extremely cumbersome and not easy to navigate. When both are allowed, they often come with different permissions. No matter which you utilize, it is important to understand strategy and tactics for each.

The top Social Media Apps currently are TikTok, Snapchat, and Telegram. For the purpose of this blog post, we will take a quick , topical look at TikTok providing you with some very basic information on how to get started using the app.

TikTok

TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps. As of this writing, TikTok has over 500 million active users (last reported in 2018). Up to 60% of US TikTok users are aged between 16-24, according to a November 2019 release from Reuters. During the time of the Pandemic, with everyone isolated, an entirely new generation has started to use the app. I am sure those numbers have gone way up. We have been searching TikTok in our social media scans for our clients when the age of the suspects warrants it. Recently, we have found that may people in their 30’s are using the app.

You can download the app on your mobile phone and create a login in order to use the app. We would suggest signing up with one of your email addresses that you use for this purpose. Once in, hit “discover” and type in your suspect’s name or user name. Use it to search just like you would any other social media platform. Once the profile is found, you can view their followers and who they are following, but you can’t see their likes.

It is always advisable to use a sock puppet or alias as you would for any search. I would also advise removing the app once you have completed the search for added security. You can always upload it again and log in with your same credentials.

Visual steps to delete the app from your mobile phone

Desktop TikTok

You are able to access TikTok through your web browser at www.ticktok.com to conduct a small amount of searches. You will find that certain features/functions require you to have an account. Once you are all set up with your account, as described above, you can begin testing it out by conducting various searches.

When an investigation requires a deeper dive into a suspect’s TikTok, you will need advanced skills for that task. Installing an Emulator would be the next step in an OSINT search. From there you can conduct more precise keyword searches that align with your specific investigation.

It is so important to stay up to date with all social media sites. They are known to change the rules frequently. Be sure to check back often as we write frequently about social media changes.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an English language adage meaning that complex and sometimes multiple ideas can be conveyed by a single still image, which conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a mere verbal description. (Wikipedia)

I couldn’t help but think about how pictures in social media are worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to investigations. We wrote a blog back in February, 2020, about how important photos are in Instagram for an investigation. However, since COVID-19 hit, with people working form home more than ever before, the opportunities to capture an important photo have increased significantly. Look for the details!

This week, Joe Biden announced his running mate and released a photo of himself on Zoom with Kamala Harris. Did you happen to catch it? It is a great example of the importance of paying attention to what is in the background of a photo.

What Biden’s Photo Reveals

The media mocked him for several things that were picked up in the photo. It appears that he may have had a script or notes of some kind. There was a third person on the call by way of the cell phone. A cartoon was on his desk in the background and that drew attention as well. According to the Business Insider, The comic is a simple two-frame piece from Dik Browne’s “Hägar the Horrible,” a 1970s-era comic strip of a charming viking from the Middle Ages, according to comics subscription website Comics Kingdom. “Hägar the Horrible” has appeared in numerous advertisements and pop-culture references, in addition to nearly 2,000 newspapers.

In Biden’s comic, Hägar appears stranded in the sea as his ship burns in the background during fierce storm. The viking bellows out to the sky, “Why me?!,” to which the clouds responds with, “Why not?”

Biden said he kept the cartoon on his desk for decades and that it humbled him in times of need, according to PBS.

Geofencing Photos

Let’s take our photo investigation one step further. Imagine creating a virtual fence around an area of the world using software. Once set up, this software can then run for a predetermined amount of time. This can be used for monitoring of infrastructure, crisis management, or executive protection. Once it is captured, it remains available within the platform, even if the user takes it down.

Pictures like this really are worth a thousand words! They bring huge value to any investigation.

Reputation Management: Hire an Investigator

When you think of reputation management, what industry comes to mind? Perhaps you would think of a PR or Communication company. We have all seen commercials on TV around companies that can help you improve your image. They promise to get rid of those bad reviews, gather up good ones, and make you look like you are the best thing out there. But are they missing something? I believe they are. Here’s why.

Chief Reputation Officer

What many companies don’t think about is that reputation management is something that needs to happen proactively, not reactively. A recent Forbes article titled “Five Reasons Your Company Needs A Chief Reputation Officer” explained it best.

“Most companies, including your competitors, are usually only thinking deeply about reputation management after a crisis has hit. They react and try desperately to repair the damage. This is a huge missed opportunity because the damage done was often completely avoidable. Just like no sports team wins a game playing only defense, your company needs to play strong defense and come out with a strong offense.”
Forbes

Where the Private Investigator Comes In

When I speak to Private Investigators, I am amazed that many have not thought about this area as a vital way to grow their business. In my opinion, they should be considered to be part of any good reputation management program or team. In our digital world, they will be able to determine exactly what needs to be monitored and how. After all, they do this type of investigating all the time.

Family law, infidelity cases and divorce depositions have been mainstream avenues for revenue for decades. Some of the PI’s love them, and some avoid them like the plaque. Those that avoid them do so because of the amount of work vs. the amount of compensation.

Promote your business as a firm that covers Corporate Reputation Management services. By doing so, you are in some ways, investigating for a company in some of the same ways you would be investigating for a cheating spouse. Only better, because the work is proactive VS. reactive. If you catch an issue that a corporation has online before it goes viral, you have saved the day.

Back in June, we wrote about Employee fraud and COVID19. In that post, we cited a Fortune 500 company’s loss of over $100,000.00 because of a plant shut down due to a dishonest employee. It happens more than we know.

Proactive Steps to Take

As a service offering, it is smart to offer a corporate client a deep web scan on their business. What does their online profile reveal? Some things to consider:

Reviews are obvious, but many people think of them as Yelp, Google, and Trip Advisor. They are the biggies, but there is much more out there.

2. Location based Monitoring: Does the company have more than one location globally? By creating a virtual fence around physical locations, an added security level is created for any violent social media mentions in the area. Additionally, automatically pull in any negative keywords for reputation management.

3. Employee Revenge. As more and more employees are laid off because of our current pandemic situation, some are understanding and some are not. It is human nature. Just today, I read a post in LinkedIn about a disgruntled employee telling everyone how she was let go from a major company. She went on to say that she mistakenly placed all of “who she was” around this position for the past 8 years and how this was a major life mistake. Her post gained a lot of views and encouraging comments, as it should. However, think about the company’s name there. Most people are left with the impression that the company did something wrong to her. We don’t know the full story, but it can still leave a lasting impression. Glassdoor is a website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. I will bet many don’t even know about that one site alone.

See the possibilities yet? Do you think in today’s online world, this could be something your firm is capable of doing? Email me if you would like to kick around the idea for your firm.

Staying Ahead of the Social Media Curve

One area that OSINT & Social Media Researchers have in common with Social Media Marketers, is the challenge of staying ahead of the social media curve. It seems like almost weekly, social platforms change something. Most of the changes have to do with ease of use for the user or trying to adhere to changing policy regulations.

Facebook Classic VS New Facebook

Facebook recently changed the way your profile looks to a new version. They allow you the opportunity to toggle back and forth if you wish. The New Facebook update is also referred to as FB5. Facebook wants its platform to be centered around group and events more than in the past. It has a white background or you can choose a dark mode.

How does this affect our investigations? How is Facebook 2020 different from Facebook 2019? One area of interest is the emphasis on groups. We have discussed this in the past, but I think it deserves another look and mention.

Pocket-Link reports, “Facebook said the Groups Tab has been overhauled to make finding new groups that you might be interested in even easier. The feed for groups will also serve up recent activity within groups you’re a member of and may even replace the News Feed as the default feed. You’ll also see more connections among groups and the Facebook features you use the most, such as Marketplace or Facebook Watch.

OSINT Facebook Tips

So how does this relate to searching Facebook? While some things may change, others remain the same. Searching for the Profile ID is still the same. Once you receive that information, you are able to use some other methods and tools to make your searching easier. This can be found in “properties” by right clicking on a profile page.

The person’s page ID can never change. Even if they change other aspects of their profile. Once you have this, check to be sure it is correct. In your browser, type in facebook.com/ID#, as a way to verify you have the correct number.

Facebook Market Place

Once you have Market Place as part of your profile, you can easily go and search there for your subject’s name. If you find something, you can see under the person’s name, the date in which they joined Facebook. This may be helpful in identifying when they joined. If you recently joined Facebook, you will not be able to participate in Facebook Marketplace. Another social media curve ball.

In future blogs we will dive into business page profiles and some good information you can glean from it. When doing a corporate scan, this is an overlooked area of interest.

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