Social Media & Open-Source Series Webinars

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• All sessions are on the 2nd Wednesday of each month in 2026 at 1500 Eastern Time

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) are extremely power tools that can be used in law enforcement & professional investigations.  From gathering intelligence, to identifying suspects, both OSINT & SOCMINT should be skills every analyst and investigator has in their toolbox.  For investigations involving social media, an in-depth understanding of what platforms are being used, how each of them function, as well as knowing how users are posting and sharing information are necessary.  Knowledge of where to look, what to look for, and how to put together the intelligence gathered in order to garner leads and advance investigations is key.  Taught by Karie Nordland, Crime Analyst for the Lakewood Police Department, each monthly session will look into a different aspect of OSINT & SOCMINT, giving students an overall understanding of platform functionality and navigation, as well as using case studies to demonstrate the power of using OSINT & Social Media to advance & enhance investigations. 

Students can either “mix and match” individual sessions as necessary or can purchase a series pass for all 12 sessions at a 25% discount. All sessions will be recorded and each session will award CEUs to IACA members (a certificate for each session can be requested). If you join the series pass mid-year, the price will be pro-rated and you will also receive the recordings for the previous sessions without having to wait the customary 45-day waiting period before webinars are added to the webinar library.

Class materials for each session (if there are any) will be added below as the series progresses.

• January - History & Psychology of Social Media 
• “A long, LONG time ago...”   This webinar will break down the evolution of social media, from the early development of technological communication to the global phenomenon that is social media as we know it today.  We will also discuss the psychology of social media, diving into the “Who/What/When/Where & Why’s” of user’s posting behaviors.  Attendees will gain insight into why social media is so intertwined in our lives, and how understanding the history & psychology of it can be crucial in seeing why it can be so valuable in professional investigations.
• February - Sock Puppets & Facebook Part 1 
• “Super Secret Squirrel S***...”   This webinar will go over the basic “How To’s” of trying to set up Sock Puppet or UC (undercover) accounts for social media, including discussing the dreaded “Facebook blockade”.  We will also start to digging into Facebook, looking at preservation & search warrant data (how to interpret/use as intel/etc), as well as navigation tips & tricks and safety precautions while conducting investigations.
• *If you already have UC accounts set up for most platforms, that’s great!  If you’ll be attending the webinar live, please feel free to bring any tips & tricks you used to get your accounts up & running!
• March - Facebook Part 2 
• “No Face/No Case...”  This webinar will be deep diving into “How to Identify the Unidentifiable”.  We’ve all heard the term used by criminals of “No Face/No Case”; well, there are still ways of identifying individuals, even if they’re actively trying to mask their identities.  There are numerous techniques (aka “themes”) to use to help gather important identifying information on our suspects, and using real-life case studies, we’ll walk through each theme and how you can apply them to your case.
• April - Instagram & Threads 
• “Just slide into my DMs...”  This webinar will look at both Instagram & Threads, Meta’s other big hitters.  As with Facebook, we’ll look at how to preserve accounts & write legal process, as well as how to interpret such results.  Navigation of both platforms will be discussed, as well as understanding safeguards for investigative purposes.  Case studies will be shown to demonstrate how Instagram & Threads can be used to gather intel and identify suspects.
• May - TikTok 
• “Oh TikTok...”  From viral dances, dangerous “challenges”, to rumors of overseas governments stealing all of our information, TikTok is like the dramatic teenager of platforms!  I think the biggest issue most UC users have with TikTok is being unfamiliar with the platform (unless you are said viral dance influencer, ha!).  We’ll walk through “How to TikTok”, and break down the basics of the platform, as well as analyze a homicide case study where TikTok added evidence to advance the investigation.
• June - CashApp, YouTube & Other Platforms 
• “Show me the Money...!”  This webinar will look at some often unknown or lesser used social media platforms.  CashApp, YouTube, Twitter/X and others can offer extremely value pieces of identifying information that can be used to help enhance cases.  Attendees will learn basic navigation of each, safety techniques and a few case studies to help show the value of using these often-underutilized platforms.
• July - Snapchat 
• “Snap, click, send, read, disappear…”  The ever-illusive Snapchat.  How long is data maintained?  What can you get back from a search warrant?  What the heck is a Snapscore and how do you become someone’s “Bestie”?  All these questions and MORE will be answered when we look into one of the most popular social media platforms (especially among the younger populations).
• August - Fitness Apps 
• “If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen!”  With a focus on health & fitness becoming extremely popular over the last 20 years, so too have fitness-related social media platforms evolved to allow users to not only track their own health & fitness goals, but also be able to connect online with others on similar journeys.  Such platforms as Strava, MapMyRun & Garmin Connect provide extremely valuable information that can be pertinent to certain investigations, if you know how to use them!  We’ll walk through the basics of each and show how certain features could be used to help advance cases…you may even start to question your own accounts & what you’re posting on them!
• September - OSINT Part 1 
• “Just Google it!”  Introduction to OSINT!  This webinar will look at different site navigation, how to evaluate information discovered during open-source browsing, and how to start building your OSINT library.  We’ll also dabble in a bit of AI technology, and how it can be used to help (or hinder) in investigations.
• October - OSINT Part 2 
• “You Have the Wrong Guy!”  During this webinar, we’ll be deep diving into a homicide case study from 2023 and how using OSINT & social media resources helped us figure out whether or not we had arrested the correct suspect.
• November - Photo Analysis 
• “A picture is worth a thousand words...”  This webinar will be looking at the art of analyzing photographs.  We’ll be learning how to take the skills we’ve learned through social media identification and OSINT thus far this year and applying them to identify where individuals are located in both photos and videos that are posted online.
• December - Class Exercises & Summary 
• “Have you been paying attention?!”  Now it’s YOUR turn to be the investigative analyst.  In prior webinars, we’ve learned all about different social media platforms, navigation techniques and how they’ve been used to identify lots of suspects in investigations.  It’s time to apply what we’ve learned and see if we can solve some cases on our own!  We’ll be walking through a few “investigations” to test attendees knowledge and understanding of prior webinars.
  • *It would be beneficial for attendees to have UC/Sock Puppet accounts in order to be able to actively participate in these case studies.

Format & Continuing Education credits/Certificates