Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Policing And The Dirty Underbelly: Understanding Narratives Of Police Deviance On Social Media Platforms, Amanda Lancia

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Policing organizations have been quick to adopt the use of social media as a community-policing and investigative tool. However, the user-generated content on social media platforms can pose a risk to police legitimacy, police accountability, and their role as the ‘authorized knowers’. This thesis explores how social media problematizes the social problems game and how social media challenges the police as the ‘authorized knowers’. Through the analysis of two case studies - #myNYPD campaign and the Walter Scott shooting – it was found that social media users can use social media platforms to construct claims against and challenge police in …