› Investigations Using Online Social Networks
Social network sites are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations. The use of social network websites in an online investigation is a controversial but effective way to prosecute certain cases. Police and university officials have used information posted on sites such as Facebook MySpace and other sites that allow users to create profile pages with personal details to prosecute users for a variety of offenses, including sexual predation. Content posted on MySpace has been even been used in court to determine a sentence.
For example: Facebook, an online social network service and the number one online destination for college students, has web pages that may be viewed by other registered users from the same school, which often include resident assistants and campus police. Facebook is increasingly being used by school administrations and law enforcement agencies as a source of evidence against student users who commit crimes.