Henderson 1

Shelby Henderson
Ms. Woods
English 111/RA
November 3, 2014
Government Monitoring of Social Media
Sixty-seven percent, roughly two thirds, of Americans have a profile on a social
networking site (Bennett). This statistic in many ways is no surprise considering the
overwhelming popularity of social media, especially in the last few years. With these
numbers in mind it is easy to see how users of popular sites like Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter, have access to huge pools of information and people. Likewise, the
administrators of the sites also have access to the information and even sometimes the
whereabouts of those people. This is where social media monitoring comes into play. A
connotation commonly associated with this is spying, but it is much more complex than
that. Chiefly used by businesses and the government, being able to view the publics
posts has proven to offer many benefits. Specifically in regards to monitoring by the
government, many opinions have surfaced both in favor and against the practice. The
government should continue to exercise their ability to monitor social media because it
improves the safety throughout the nation, and provides the government with useful and
sometimes life saving information.
The Department of Human Services is a prime example of how monitoring can be
used effectively and for dutiful purpose. They use a system called Vizie that "captures
feedback published on publicly accessible social networks about people's experiences
with the department and automatically highlights items that may require a response

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(Towell). Most frequently, this information is simply used to track any type of service
issue so the department can respond more quickly and efficiently. The software is
sophisticated enough to also track any threats or abuse against welfare or child support
officials. A spokeswoman from the department elaborated, "In cases where inappropriate
content is published on social media, such as when the privacy of our staff or customers
is breached, the department seeks removal through the service provider's reporting
function (Towell). Such uses offer vital resources that would not be available to the
department otherwise, and allow it to function more efficiently.
Another keen aspect that coincides with social media is geospatial media
monitoring. This essentially looks at the geographic area in which the tweets, pictures, or
posts are made. This has especially helped out law enforcement, most effectively
regarding gang violence. By concentrating monitoring to explicit areas, government
officials can react to situations in real time (Prall). An investigator with the Detroit
Crime Commission, Lyle Dungy, comments on the technology, We started monitoring
the public-facing social media content in and around schools. It's a challenging prospect,
but we've seen some successes (Prall). Considering all the school shootings that have
devastated the nation within the last decade, schools have rightfully been a major target
for monitoring. Dungy goes on to highlight another key success of using this technology
when he references the Detroit World Series in 2012. A virtual perimeter was set up
around key locations and the stadium itself which allowed them to, monitor those areas
for specific keywords such as shoot, shooting, shot, rob, robbery, gun, burner or chopper
[both slang for firearms] (Prall). Dungy explained that because of this monitoring they
were able to prevent several minor incidents from occur. Equally as important, he

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explained, [If there was an incident] we would see it first and respond far faster than
someone calling it in (Prall). Large events, such as the World Series, are notorious for
being targets of violence. Preventing and reacting to tragedies, as well as any terrorist
type act, is the dominating reason the government continues to monitor social media, and
works hard to keep improving their capabilities and technologies to do so. Halting that
progress in any way is counterproductive, and de-emphasizes the importance of safety
against both foreign and domestic crises.
Preventing certain disasters from happening is next to impossible, or at least it has
been in certain cases throughout the past decades. Strengthening the governments ability
to seek out the threats and in turn prevent them is a work in progress that has been
improved with the monitoring of social media. A way that the government has already
seen much success is in reacting to mass disasters. Richard Hartman, COO for OhMyGov
Inc., with twenty-four years of experience in the federal government as well as a PHD in
policy and management, comments on past disasters that would have certainly benefitted
from social media monitoring:
If social media were a viable resource during 9/11 and the government was
monitoring social media channels, perhaps Americans would have been more
prepared and armed with information to help them stay safe in the unfolding
crisis. The same may be true for Katrina. Had Twitter been as pervasive of a tool
for spreading information then, operators on the ground could have been able to
more readily identify assets available at their disposal, such as the infamous
dozens of yellow school buses left to rot in the parking lot that could have been
used as transport vehicles for displaced persons (Hartman).

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There is no denying that social media has become a sensational tool for spreading
information, and if the government were not to utilize that in their favor, they would be
abandoning a precious resource and turning their backs on life-saving information
(Hartman).
Beyond preventing and reacting to terrorist type disasters, social media
monitoring has applications for aiding in disease outbreak before it becomes a pandemic.
Scientists at Childrens Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School are doing just that.
Using twitter, they were able to track a Cholera epidemic by collecting 4,697 reports and
188, 819 worldwide tweets. Hartman comments on the astonishing accomplishment,
While it wasnt a perfect science, they were able to make a general assessment regarding
the outbreak activity, including a calculation of the outbreaks reproductive number,
indicating how quickly the outbreak was progressing (Hartman). Perhaps the most
impressive part is that this was accomplished in two weeks, which surely would not have
been possible using previous sampling methods. Tracking this epidemic allowed for
hospitals to be better prepared for incoming patients and to have the proper resources and
medicines at the ready.
The ways in which the government can utilize the data collected from social
media is certainly numerous, but one final and extremely useful way is for program
reform. In recent years the government has been looking to sites, chiefly Facebook and
Twitter, for complaints about government programs. Normally the only complaints that
would be heard are the rare few that take it to Capital Hill. Seeing the publics honest
opinions and complaints, as well as collecting that information across a broad spectrum,
allows for more accurate and time effective data. In 2010 the Department of Veteran

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Affairs knew it was in need of reform. Its main duty is to provide healthcare to veterans,
so naturally that is assumed to be the chief complaint. Using social media monitoring
they discovered that was not really a complaint at all, instead the most dissatisfaction was
in regards to customer service provided by VA facilities. Hartman explains that the VA
was able to allocate resources to fix problems instead of mandating more costly and
unnecessary across-the-board healthcare quality improvements (Hartman). All
government departments can use this same type of process to improve their programs and
save money in the long run. With an increasing national debt always on the forefront of
American concern, allocating money in the most effective manner is always a top
priority. Social media monitoring has the ability to aid in that goal, further making it an
important government practice.
The value of government monitoring is clear, but that does not stop it from being
a highly debated topic. Many have voiced concerns that it is spying, and is ultimately an
infringement on the publics rights. Americans take pride in the countries use of
democracy, and the voices of its people being heard. When the government collects
information that is in some cases against peoples will, it can threaten that idea of
democracy. Additionally, the top complaint is that it violates the right to free speech.
Many believe they should be able to say whatever they want on social media because it is
their opinion and their feelings. It is true that the right to free speech is an important
freedom to uphold, but what many neglect is that such a freedom comes with a
responsibility. It is common knowledge that someone cannot yell fire in a building, or
say, I have a bomb on a plane without serious consequences. There are already plenty
of examples of law enforcements ability to act when threatening things are said. Looking

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to social media is simply a more effective way of screening that. Ultimately it does not
disrupt the right for Americans to speak their mind, but instead strengthens the
governments responsibility to protect its people.
Preventing and responding to disasters, detecting the early stages of an epidemic,
and effectively reforming government programs are all just a handful of the benefits of
governmental social media monitoring. Although viewed in the eyes of some as breach of
American rights, its overall purpose is far more important than the small discomfort it
may cause to some. So many benefits have already stemmed from this practice, and they
will only continue to grow. With the progress that has been made, Americans should
sleep easy at night knowing the government is doing everything in its power to keep its
people safe.

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Works Cited
Bennett, Shea. "67% Of Americans Use Social Media (With One In Six Active On
Twitter) [STUDY]." Media Bistro. Mediabistro Inc., 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 3 Nov.
2014.
Hartman, Richard. "Social Media Monitoring Is Critical for Government Operations."
TheHill. Capital Hill Publishing Corp., 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2014
Prall, Derek. "Location, Location, Location." American City & County 128.8 (2013): 10.
MasterFILE Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Towell, Noel. "Defence, Human Services monitoring social media." Sydney Morning
Herald, The 12 Apr. 2014: 19. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 3 Nov.
2014.