Audience Perceptions of Social Media's Ability to Solve Cold Case Investigations
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Keywords
Perceptions, Social Media, Investigations
Biography
My name is Kathryn Stanley and I am currently pursuing a B.A. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Organizational Communication. I am involved in organizations such as the National Society of Leadership and Success as well as an active member of Alpha Xi Delta.
Major
Communication Studies
Advisor for this project
Dr. Cam Brammer
Abstract
Public interest in crime has existed throughout time. Media uses crime stories’ popularity to create entertainment and fuel ratings. These programs have also helped solve cold cases. The true crime genre is also popular on social media, but research has not examined how these true crime platforms assist in solving crime cases—specifically cold cases. An online survey consisting of three parts will help in understanding how audiences perceive the role of social media and the ability to solve cold cases.
This study will seek to explain how the information found on social media, through podcasts, forums and audience engagement, contains information useful to the cases. The usefulness of such information has already been understood for use in such ways as Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts and traffic alerts by law enforcement.
The data for this study will be collected via an online survey. The survey will contain three parts- 1) what social media the participant uses & if they use it for true crime content, 2) if they believe that social media can help solve crime, and 3) their motivations for listening/reading true crime content found on social media. The survey platform will be Qualtrics.
Audience Perceptions of Social Media's Ability to Solve Cold Case Investigations
Public interest in crime has existed throughout time. Media uses crime stories’ popularity to create entertainment and fuel ratings. These programs have also helped solve cold cases. The true crime genre is also popular on social media, but research has not examined how these true crime platforms assist in solving crime cases—specifically cold cases. An online survey consisting of three parts will help in understanding how audiences perceive the role of social media and the ability to solve cold cases.
This study will seek to explain how the information found on social media, through podcasts, forums and audience engagement, contains information useful to the cases. The usefulness of such information has already been understood for use in such ways as Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts and traffic alerts by law enforcement.
The data for this study will be collected via an online survey. The survey will contain three parts- 1) what social media the participant uses & if they use it for true crime content, 2) if they believe that social media can help solve crime, and 3) their motivations for listening/reading true crime content found on social media. The survey platform will be Qualtrics.
