Intelligence Goldmine or Overwhelming Hinderance? Social Media’s Impact on U.S. Intelligence Community Analysis
Open Access
- Author:
- Pfohl, Samuel
- Area of Honors:
- Security and Risk Analysis
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- William Parquette, Thesis Supervisor
Michael Keith Hills, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Social Media
Intelligence Community
Analysis
Domestic Extremism
Intelligence - Abstract:
- This thesis intends to explore the relationship between social media and the United States’ Intelligence Community and its dealings with domestic extremism. To achieve this goal, this paper will provide in-depth analysis of case studies where social media had a significant impact on the lead-up, actual event, or subsequent actions of major domestic extremism attacks. Specifically, this research’s scope will look at the Boston Marathon Bombing, the January 6th Insurrection, and the Robb Elementary School Shooting as its major case studies. Through these comparative examples of domestic extremism, this thesis will look to address the ultimate research question of “what role does information gleaned from social media play in the timeliness and accuracy of formulating intelligence analysis relating to domestic extremism within the U.S. Intelligence Community?” To address the above question, the focus of these case studies will be on how effectively, or ineffectively, social media was used during these events to mitigate, solve, or otherwise change how officials reacted to each event. The ultimate goal of this research is to show how social media, an increasingly present aspect of today’s world, impacts the United States’ Intelligence Community, and whether social media should be regarded as a boon of knowledge or be regarded with trepidation due to information overload. Using the cases outlined above, this research ultimately came to the conclusion that information from social media does not have a noticeable impact on accuracy but can significantly impact timeliness, leading to social media being an invaluable source, if used efficiently, for the U.S. Intelligence Community.