{"id":247,"date":"2022-07-24T17:03:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T09:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mojomanual2022.flywheelsites.com\/?page_id=247"},"modified":"2022-09-30T09:52:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T01:52:11","slug":"using-facebook-for-investigative-journalism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mojo-manual.org\/digital-investigation\/using-facebook-for-investigative-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Facebook for Investigative Journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Contrary to popular opinion, Facebook isn\u2019t dead yet. It is true that the platform’s membership is stalling and the users are aging – but there is still a lot of activity. Compared to other networks such as Tiktok or Instagram, Facebook still offers the unique features of public and private groups where people come together to exchange information. And even if Facebook is not used as regularly anymore, many people still have profiles that you might use to extract information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This post walks you through the most important tips on how to use Facebook for journalistic research. And it also provides you with an overview of more resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we get into the Facebook-specific tips, there are some general steps you can take to investigate social media profiles. These include reverse searching profile pictures or looking for usernames across platforms. Head over to our chapter on investigating Tik Tok or to this guide <\/a>by Datajounalism.com to get more in depth instructions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A great starting point for finding eyewitnesses or local experts are local and\/or topic specific Facebook groups. They are often open to everyone, or easy to access. You can use them to connect with people who are passionate about local issues or live in a specific neighborhood. You can also use topic specific public groups to look for experts on certain issues, or look for mentions of private groups that might only be open to people with specific demographics or interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to get into a private group like this, you could use the information from bigger, public groups to gather information on what a believable fake-profile might have to look like in order to get into a closed group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook can also be a helpful tool to find specific pieces of information. For example, you can look for phone numbers or find profiles by guessing email addresses. Other things that you can do include tracking pictures back to the Facebook accounts they were posted on and looking up what content people have liked. Here<\/a> is a great instruction on how to extract these pieces of information. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFinding Eyewitnesses and Local Experts on Facebook\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Using Facebook to Find Specific Information\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Search Tools for Facebook <\/h2>\n\n\n\n