http://indystar.gns.gannett.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070305/TECH04/701260385/1001/TECH

The article from USA Today Web sites host wealth of crime-solving clues goes into detail about how web services such as Xanga, MySpace, Facebook, and You Tube are being used to investigate and identify criminals.  It starts by discussing a specific case where a family posted video evidence of a family member’s murderer fleeing the scene of the crime.  Although the murdered remains at large there were thousands of tips and people who responded.  The reason this is being viewed as such an important way to fight crime is the immense exposure the sites have to people ages 18 to 25.  While people of that age may be less likely to watch news reports on television millions are exposed to those sites and some even view the sites mutliple times a day.  Another reason for how importance the evidence is happens to be the fact that those posting on the sites are often young adults or kids and not smart enough to realize they actually have posted evidence incriminating themselves.

These different services that are being used on the web are prime examples of both the web as a network and the social networks we’ve discussed in class so far.  A key aspect of the web as a network in this case is the nature of the web in that there are constantly new nodes and edges created.  The ability of the web to create new information and resources is key because it enables the quick release and spread of information that can be available to law enforcement.  This also happens to be a social network because instead of using the specific websites or pages as nodes we can also discuss the unit of analysis as the individuals involved in the posting.  This information now becomes new nodes law enforcement has edges to.  The more edges and nodes law enforcement is connected to in a social network the more power it gives them.  The more power they have the greater ability they have to do their jobs, solve crimes.

 I too agree this may be a great resource and the future for crime solving, but I also have some concerns.  These sites and the information on them are completly up to the discression of the public, because of this the information on the web is not always accurate or necessarily helpful.  Another situation that arises is the large amount of information on the web and the complexity that sometimes arises when trying to navigate the web as a network or find the specific information you were looking for.  One of the reasons the web happens to be so difficult to navigate is the fact that the web as a network is not a directed graph.  Finally I also believe that so much information and tips coming in about particular crimes could lead to law enforcement having to follow leads that may be fruitless and do nothing but tie up a lot of the time and resources law enforcement may have to offer.  These services being young it will be interesting to see how good of a tool these social sites can possibly be for the purpose of crime solving, but atleast it is a resource thats being explored.