Online Citizens, Missing Persons and the Police: Three Case Studies

Weeber, Stan (2013): Online Citizens, Missing Persons and the Police: Three Case Studies. Published in: Southeastern Social Science Journal , Vol. 2, (15 April 2012): pp. 5-15.

Abstract

The mass mobilization of citizens on the Internet to support both conventional and contentious causes has been adequately documented. The Internet has proven to be a cost effective means to rally timely and widespread support for a topic of interest. Topics addressed by online citizens range from local initiatives to issues of global importance. One mobilization of interest to both social scientists and the public is the movement of online citizens seeking information about missing persons, some believed to be victims of foul play. Left mostly unexplored to date are the types of missing person cases that interest such citizens and the kinds of online tools that these people utilize to keep up with developments on the missing person case of choice. This paper is a preliminary examination of such questions.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: online citizens, internet social movements, missing persons, police-community relations
• Subjects: Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z10 - General

References

Armstrong, Derek. 2008. Drew Peterson Exposed: Polygraphs Reveal the Shocking Truth about Stacy Peterson and Kathleen Savio. Largo, FL: Kunati.

Atton, Chris. 2003. “Reshaping Social Movement Media for a New Millennium.” Social Movement Studies, Volume 2, Issue 1 (April): 3-15.

Brooks-Klinger, Jeneve. 2007. “Anti-War Music Websites: Cultural Social Movement Activity in Cyberspace.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Capling, Ann and Kim Nossel. 2001. “Death of Distance or Tyranny of Distance? The Internet, Deterritorialization and the Anti-Globalization Movement in Australia.” Pacific Review, Volume 14, Issue 3: 443-465.

Carty, Victoria. 2010. “New Information Communication Techniques and Grassroots Mobilization.” Information, Communication and Society, Volume 13, Issue 2 (March): 155- 173.

Carty, Victoria. 2009. “Bridging Contentious and Electoral Politics: MoveOn and the Digital Revolution.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Corrigall-Brown, Catherine and Rima Wilkes. 2012. “Picturing Protest: The Visual Framing of Collective Action by First Nations in Canada.” American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 56, Issue 2 (February): 223-243.

Della Porta, Donatella and Lorenzo Mosca. 2005. “Global-Net for Global Movements? A Network of Networks for a Movement of Movements.” Journal of Public Policy, Volume 25, Issue 1 (May): 165-190.

Earl, Jennifer and Katrina Kimport. 2009. “Movement Societies and Digital Protest: Fan Activism and Other Nonpolitical Protest Online.” Sociological Theory, Volume 27, Issue 3 (September): 220-243.

Fanning, Diane. 2009. Mommy’s Little Girl: Casey Anthony and her Daughter Caylee’s Tragic Fate. New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks.

Godwin, Maurice. 2008. Hunting Serial Predators. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Godwin, Maurice. 2005. Tracker: Hunting Down Serial Killers. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.

Godwin, Maurice. 2001. Criminal Psychology and Forensic Technology: A Collaborative Approach to Effective Profiling. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Gustavson, Aleta and Darren Sherkat. 2004. “The Ideological Structuring of White Supremacy on the Internet: Network Size, Density and Asymmetry.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Handler, Joel. 1992. “Postmodernism, Protest and the New Social Movements.” Law and Society Review, Volume 26, Issue 4 (December): 697-732.

Hatcher, Laura. 2004. “Hyperlinking Meaning and Community: Creating Property Ideology on the World Wide Web.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association.

Klein, Hans. 2001. “Online Social Movements and Internet Governance.” Peace Review, Volume 13, Number 3 (September): 403-410.

Konieczny, Piotr. 2009. “Wikipedia: Community or a Social Movement?” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Krajicek, David. 2013. “America’s Missing.” The Crime Library, March 20.

Lerner, Melissa. 2010. “Connecting the Actual with the Virtual: The Internet and Social Movement Theory in the Muslim World – The Cases of Iran and Egypt.” Journal of Muslim Majority Affairs, Volume 30, Number 4 (December): 555-574.

Mustafa, Clayton and Sue Israel, 2009. Blood Bath. New York: Pinnacle Books.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 2013. “When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Justice Programs.

Parham, Angel. 2003. “The Haiti Forum and Transnational Solidarity: Opportunities and Limits of an Internet-Mediated Public Sphere.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Ricker, Nok-Noi. 2012. “Bangor Police Start Online Option to Report Minor Crimes.” Bangor Daily News, September 24.

Rohlinger, Deana, Jordan Brown and Lisa Weinberg. 2009. “Resource Mobilization in the Internet Age.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Rohlinger, Deana, Leslie Bunnage and Jordan Brown. 2009. “Organizing Online: Activists’ Differential Uses of the Internet and the Implications for Social Movement Participation.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Rosenau, Pauline. 1992. Postmodernism and the Social Sciences: Insights, Inroads, and Intrusions. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Schussman, Alan and Jennifer Earl. 2003. “Biography, Leadership and E-Movements: Strategic Voting and the Changing Face of Contention in the Internet Age." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Staggenborg, Suzanne. 2011. Social Movements. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stanley, Stephanie. 2005. An Invisible Man. New York: Berkley Books.

Stecklein, Janelle and Kimball Bennion. 2012. “Hundreds of Citizens Search for Missing Millcreek Man.” Salt Lake Tribune, October 28.

Stein, Laura. 2009. “Social Movement Web Use in Theory and Practice: A Content Analysis of U.S. Movement Websites.” New Media and Society, Volume 11, Issue 5 (August): 749-771.

Van Laer, Jeroen and Peter Van Aelst. 2010. “Internet and Social Movement Action Repertoires.” Information, Communication and Society, Volume 13, Number 8 (December): 1146-1171.

Weeber, Stan. 2007. In Search of Derrick Todd Lee: The Internet Social Movement that Made a Difference. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Wiltz, Sue and Maurice Godwin. 2004. Slave Master. New York: Kensington Publishing Corporation.