On 4 November, some of the major media sources ran what we already knew that the folks over at Langley were doing, watching, and analyzing social media including blogs, Twitter and Facebook. It should not come as a surprise. We already know that many employers and landlords check social media for perspective employees or tenants before making a decision. What was news was that a special interview and tour was granted.
During this, the CIA said it used librarians to aid in the research and analysis. For those of us who research online, including those engaged in white hat SEO (search engine optimization), this is a wise choice. Librarians continue to be one of the best resources for research on and offline because of their training and experience in reference research with keywords.
This research by those who have been nicknamed the “vengeful librarians” is combined with other sources of information such as those conducted from ELINT (Electronic signals intelligence), personal communications, chatrooms, newspapers, television and radio broadcasts. The Agency’s Open Source Center (OSC) reviews about 5 million tweets a day.
Links from a variety of sources with different perspectives:
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/04/142029141/cia-analysts-comb-social-media-for-trouble-spots
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/52850565-68/center-naquin-media-social.html.csp
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/04/cia_open_source_center/
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