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Antonius & Richonline travel reviews contribute to social media out ofconcerns for other travellers.31 In summary, selfefficacy is the most important predictor of knowledgesharing intention and behavior.32 The enjoyment gainedfrom the process of knowledge sharing is drivingincreased use of social media.3. Social Media IntelligenceWhile the use and growth of social media are clearlyrobust, its potential to improve public safety has onlymore recently surfaced. Social Media Intelligence(SOCMINT) is a newly introduced terminology so anagreed definition remains elusive.33 The authors suggestSOCMINT is the collection, processing, analysis andreporting of social media information to satisfyintelligence requirements of law enforcement andsecurity government agencies.3.1. Social Media Open SourceIn comparison to SOCMINT, open source intelligence(OSINT) is a more established body of knowledge.OSINT is generally defined as intelligence derived frompublicly available material that anyone can lawfully beobtained by request, purchase or observation.34SOCMINT is considered by some to be a subset ofOSINT. Some highlight the fact that SOCMINT derivedfrom publicly available information, thus in essence it isa part and parcel of OSINT.35 However, SOCMINT canalso encompass information restricted from public view.Therefore SOCMINT is more appropriately treated as amix between open and classified sources.33Despite their close relations, it would be precariousto classify SOCMINT as a proper subset of OSINT.Social media has a distinct flavor of user-generatedcontent that is commonly presented in conversation-likeformats. OSINT on the other hand encompassesmultitudes of information formats including websites,gray literature and presentations, which may or may notbe distributed through Web 2.0 platforms. Thereforedespite their neighboring heritage, SOCMINT hasadequate distinction in format and flavor that warrantsits recognition as a new stream of intelligence.3.2. Open Source SOCMINTThis article focuses on open source SOCMINT, thus itis beneficial to briefly expand on the topic. Animportant distinction of open source SOCMINT is onlyusing publicly available information, and categoricallyexcludes classified (closed-source) information.36In recent years, recognition for the importance ofopen source information has increased dramatically. Atleast three United States Federal Commissions criticizedthe lack of dedicated analysis and exploitation of opensource information including the Aspin-BrownCommission in 1996, the 9/11 Commission in 2004 andthe Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission in2005.37 Independent reviews of the intelligencecommunity in Australia also produce similar findings.The Flood Review and the Cornall and Black Reviewboth recommend new strategies for managingintelligence collection in the age of abundantinformation, including training and technologies togenerate insights from open source information.38, 39With its unclassified nature, commercial entities alsoseize on the opportunity to gain competitive advantage.Exploitation of open source SOCMINT is likely to gaingreater prominence in the private sector as morecompetitive customer, supplier and market-related databecomes available.40 Firms that can determine how andwhere to effectively gather and exploit open sourceSOCMINT stand to lessen their decision-makingambiguity and lower their risk.413.3. Perceptions of Open Source InformationClassified information remains the primary type ofinformation used in intelligence assessments, but theadvent of open source information brings debates withinthe intelligence community as to its relative value andcredibility when compared with classified information.37One recognized perception is that because classifiedinformation is normally derived from clandestinecollection activities, it should be regarded as morevaluable than freely available open source information.In other words, the perceived difficulty associated withthe acquisition process is used as a barometer ofinformation value.A more considered view of open source accepts itsstrengths and benefits, but quotes the lack of reliability,credibility and proof as shortcomings. Proponents seemto indicate the need for further training and moreprecedence in exploiting open source information formission critical issues. The Director of United StatesOpen Source Centre recounted in 2009 when hereported on unrests in the Middle East fuelled by user-Published by Atlantis PressCopyright: the authors45

Social Media for Public Safetygenerated content, but was received with skepticism bythe wider intelligence community.42characteristics of the new learning model juxtaposedwith existing approaches.3.4. Challenges to SOCMINTTable 1. Contrasting featurescontemporary literacy models.44As a new intelligence stream, SOCMINT poses somechallenges for those seeking to manage and exploit it.Two of those challenges, technology and validation areexplained in this section.The first is to have specialized collection tools andanalytical processes that allow the separation betweenthe signal and noise, sorting the wheat from the chaff.33One argues that such has been the crux of intelligenceefforts since its inception, but the flood of informationavailable through social media, its unstructured nature,and real-time speeds present a unique challenge toexisting technologies. This technology managementchallenge is described by an analyst who monitoredsocial media during the London riots in 2011 assearching the British Library for a page in a book, butwithout an index to refer to.4The second, and a more long-term, challenge is thedifficulty of validation. Information obtained fromsocial media is likely to be authored by anonymousindividuals with little proven authority in the subjectmatter, which presents challenges in verifying theinformation presented. SOCMINT represents a shiftfrom voices of authority to hubbubs of semi-anonymousconversations.43 In the past era of print culture,information was presented with textual permanence,unity and identifiable authorship, and was thereforestable. Social media with its collaborative and mash-upphilosophy transformed the landscape to flat and fluidinformation spaces.44A token example is access to social media platformsby intelligence analysts. How many intelligenceservices provide access to social media platforms on theanalysts’ regular workstations? Security measures aside,SOCMINT will be the furthest from the analysts’ mindsif social media platforms are not at their fingertips.A solution can be gleaned from the field ofinformation literacy. Adaptive training in informationliteracy, based on non-linear approaches, is likely tofacilitate analysts to make choices and negotiatebetween options.45 The learning model is founded on thebelief that analysts should avoid passively collectinginformation, but instead actively negotiate the task byforming their own perspectives and creating nalandExisting cy 2.0Interpretationsand negotiationsContentAccess ity andaccuracy issuesCharacteristicsof programsSingle correctsolutionNon-exclusivesolutions, multipleinformation pathsPerception l level:subjectivePerception ofinformationspacesStructured libraryworldUnorganizedstructuresPerception ofusersEducating usersEducatinginformationcreators and usersMethodologiesOne-timesessions, isolatedinstructionsHybrid e-learningwith Web 2.0servicesCategoryAccents inteaching4. Case StudySOCMINT has the potential to present unique strategicinsights in addressing existing intelligence questions.35SOCMINT can illuminate the behavior of certaingroups of interest, such as emerging topics withingroup-specific conversations and how the group reactsto a specific, perhaps volatile, event.33For the purpose of this article, the authors selected athematic issue such as OMCs which can be illuminatedthrough open source SOCMINT.4.1. Background to Outlaw Motorcycle ClubsA cluster of motorcycle clubs refer to themselves as the‘one percenters’ and often described as OMCs. Theyhave expanded since their inception in the late 1940sand 1950s to become international franchises withmemberships all over the world.46, 47 Although theirgrowth has previously concentrated in Anglophonecountries, they have now globalized and successfullyexpanded to countries such as Japan, Russia, andPublished by Atlantis PressCopyright: the authors46

Antonius & RichGermany. They have strong disciplined cultures andstructures, commonly rotating around ‘chapters’,regional cells of these clubs. Each chapter holds relativeautonomy although they also follow broader nationaland international club rules. Every chapter is led by apresident, supported by sergeants-at-arms and atreasurer. Members graduate over the years from beinga supporter, a ‘hangaround’, a prospect, and finally a‘fully-patched’ member.48OMCs are not considered to be criminal or illegalgroups as a whole, but some of their members haveconsistently come to the attention of law enforcementfor organized crime activities, typically in the illicitdrug market.46 Today’s OMCs are sophisticatedorganizations who allegedly use their affiliation with amotorcycle club as a conduit for criminal activities. Ithas been observed that OMCs often employ violenceand intimidation tactics to achieve their goals, thusgenerally considered to be a formidable threat tosociety.47OMCs have grown significantly in the United States,numbering approximately 44,000 members nationwide,grouped in around 3,000 chapters, and reportedlycollaborating with African, Asian, Eurasian and Italianorganized crime syndicates.49 In September 2011, tworival gangs were engaged in a public shootout at a LasVegas casino, sending guests diving under the tables,and resulted in the death of an OMC president.50OMC members in Australia number in excess of4,000 persons in around 40 clubs.46 Strings of violentacts have been associated with Australian-based OMCsover the years, most notably a brawl between twoOMCs in Sydney Airport in March 2009 that resulted inone death.51 As a result, an OMC president was foundguilty of murder and sentenced with 28 years in jail.52The airport-related fracas is reminiscent of a similarbrawl in the United Kingdom between two opposingOMCs at Birmingham Airport in 2008. Twelve menwere charged for violent disorder and weapons such asknuckledusters, hammers and a meat cleaver wereretrieved from the scene.53On the other hand, not all members of OMCs areinvolved in criminal activities. The OMC culture seemstolerant to its members being involved in criminalactivities, but does not incorporate criminal acts in theircharters.54 Proponents of this argument view theviolence commonly associated with OMCs to becommitted by overzealous members who wish to protecttheir clubs and fellow members.554.2. Open Source SOCMINT on OMCThe unique counter-culture proudly displayed by OMCspresents a rare opportunity to observe how open sourceSOCMINT can generate strategic insights into theirbehavior. The OMC ethos has been observed to be onethat values interactions and loyalty among its members,while not generally shying away from public or lawenforcement attention.54 OMCs present a distinctivepresence in the public eye through conventional mediareporting and social media channels, unlikeconventional criminal syndicates, therefore providing arich environment for collection and analysis of opensource SOCMINT.5. Collection and AnalysisThis research uses OMC presence on Twitter as a casestudy to demonstrate the relevant collection and analysistechnologies to produce relevant SOCMINT.The use of Twitter for academic research is growing.With more than 950,000 users, it provides a basis forresearch funded by the Australian Research CouncilDiscovery Project as the first comprehensive study ofAustralian social media usage.56 A search on popularacademic databases for the term ‘Twitter’ returns over8,000 scholarly articles since 2008.5.1. Data CollectionTwitter is widely used by corporations and publicfigures to communicate with their constituents; theOMCs and their supporters are no different. It isapparent that a number of Twitter accounts bear thename of OMCs as their screen monikers.While it is not possible to conclude whether theaccount owners are indeed OMC members, it would bereasonable to assume that they are ardent supporters ofthe respective OMCs.The FBI National Gang Threat, published on the FBIwebsite, provides a target population of 72 OMCs.49 Byiteratively searching for Twitter screen monikers thatbear the names of the 72 OMCs, 23 Twitter accounts areidentified which form the seed list for this research.In order to obtain a comprehensive picture of theirhistorical activities, the authors utilized Snap Bird,which in comparison to the standard Twitter interface,Published by Atlantis PressCopyright: the authors47

Social Mediaa for Public Safetytycan return twweets more thaan ten days old to a maximuumof 3,200 tweeets.57 Snap BirdBwas useed to collect allhistorical acttivities of thee seed accounnts, resulting in6,601 public ttweets. Table 2 summarizess the dataset.Table 2. Dataseet Summary.CategoryTarget Populaation of OMCsSampling FraameNumber of Twwitter accountss identifiedNumber of puublic tweets colllectedDate rangeNumber72 clubs14 clubs withhTwitteraccountsresembling theeirclub names1,4626,60120 April 2009 to20 January 201135.2. Preliminnary AnalysisThis section outlinesosomee basic analyses of the sammplepopulation, iincluding howw Twitter accounts can becategorized, timeline of tweets, typess of tweets andalanguages useed. Discussionns on the signnificance of theseresults will bee expanded inn a later sectionn.Categories off Twitter accountsTraversing thhe 23 seed accountsathroough Snap BirdBresulted in the collection of 6,601 publicc tweets. Theyy inturn containn references to another 1,439 Twittteraccounts by virtuevof convversations andd references. TheTTwitter accoounts in the sample poppulation can becategorized aas follows: OMC suupporters – 22 accounts asssociated with 14distinct OOMCs. OMC news – 1 accoount distributtes OMC-relaatednews, buut is not associiated to any sppecific clubs. OMC associatesa– 490 accounnts ‘re-tweeted’(repeatedd or referenceed) one or moremtweets frromthe 22 OMMC supporterrs. Distant RRelations – 9499 accounts area referencedd inthe colleected tweets, but these useers have neithherreplied norn conversed with OMC suupporters.Timeline of TTweetsThe sample ppopulation off tweets span over 45 monnthsas depicted inn Figure 2.Figg. 2. Timeline distribution of tweetstFigure 2 suuggests the decliningdactivities of theesammple population since the highs of neaarly 1,800 perryeear in 2009 to approximatelly 1,000 in 2012, a decreaseeoff around 45 peer cent.The decreasing trend seemms counter intuitive againstthee backdrop off greater sociaal media usage described innpreevious sections. In investiigating this mattermfurtherr,thee authors remmoved the onee Twitter accoount describeddas OMC news. ThisT one accoount alone is responsiblerforralmmost 3,200 tweets, neaarly half off the sampleepoopulation (48 per cent), thustit is likkely to skewwagggregate resultts.The timelinne distributionn without thee OMC newssaccount is showwn in Figure 3.Figg. 3. Timeline distributiondof tweets without OMCOnewsFigure 3 reveals a differrent pattern. By excludinggthiis account, iti is apparennt that tweetss from OMCCsuupporters weree at 757 in 20009, dipped sliightly in 20100annd 2011, and juumped to oveer 1,000 tweetss in 2012. Theeactivities in 2012 represent an increase ofo over 35 perrcent in comparison to that in 2009.Tyypes of TweetssThhere are two types of tweetts in the sampple populationn;‘orriginal tweetss’ authored byy the user, annd ‘re-tweets’,whhich are tweeets from othher users thaat have beennreppeated or referenced by thee author.Published by Atlantis PressCopyright: the authors48

Antonius & RichhThe OMMC news account exclussively producesoriginal tweeets, thus the accountais exccluded from thistanalysis.Out of thee 2,862 tweetts, 1,770 weree original tweeetsand 1,092 weere re-tweets. FigureF4 showws the divisionn.disscussions on the significannce of these resultsrwill beeexxpanded in thee next section.Soocial Network GraphTwweets can reepresent convversations beetween OMCCsuupporters, thuus they can be analyzed using sociaalneetwork analyssis software suchsas Gephhi.58 Figure 5vissualizes accouunts as nodes and tweets as edges.Fig. 4. Divisionn between originalotweetss and re-tweeets(excluding OMMC news platforrm)Languages off TweetsSocial mediaa facilitates conversationscall around theworld and Twwitter supportts over 20 lannguages. At leeast12 distinct laanguages can be detected fromfthe sammplepopulation. TTable 3 presennts the breakdoown.Figg. 5. Social netwwork graph of thet sample popuulationTable 3. Languuages used in r (Danishh, German,Swedish, Korrean)40.06%6,601100%TotalBeehavioral PattternsTwweets are riich with datta that sugggest a user’ssbeehavioral patteerns. For example, aggregating the dateeannd time stampps of tweets canc reveal the user’s dailyyrouutine. Some tweets,tdepennding on the user’suprivacyysetttings, may hold geocodingg informationn of where theetwweet was gennerated from, and can be subsequentlyyannalyzed in a geeospatial platfform.Previous annalyses sugggest that the OMC newssaccount provedd challenging to dissect because of theelarrge number ofo tweets fromm one user. BBy placing thee3,1199 tweets frrom this user on a scatterpplot, Figure 6dissplays the peaaks and troughhs of activitiess.5.3. Targetedd AnalysisSpecialized analyticalatoolls can be appplied to generratedeeper insighhts into the samplespopulaation. Similarrly,Published by Atlantis PressCopyright: the authors49

Fig. 6. Scatterpplot of activitiess from the OMCC news accountt6. Discussioon of FindingsIt is clear thaat Twitter is a robust platforrm that is widdelyused by socciety and avvails itself tot various datadcollection annd analysis toools to generatte insights. ThisTsection exammines the findinngs from the previous sectionto illustrate what can bee gleaned froom open souurceSOCMINT.Firstly, tiimeline distriibution corrobborates the factfthat social meedia usage coontinues to inccrease, includingusage by OMCOsupportters and asssociates. Acttivemonitoring oof timeline disstribution couuld be used asa abarometer oof the OMCC communityy, especially inconjunction with significcant events that impact onOMCs. For example, whhen several AustralianAstaatespassed legislaation that cann declare certaain OMCs to beillegal organnizations,59, 60 timeline analysis couuldpotentially bee used to monnitor whether increasedic

collection and analysis techniques that can be applie d to generate insights for social media intelligence. Keywords: Social Media, Social Media Intelligence, SOCMINT, Open Source Information, Web 2.0, Contemporary Knowledge Management. 1. Introduction Social media perm