Casey Anthony and the Social Media Defense |
Posted: August 7, 2011 |
I hadn’t intended to launch this blog with a post about Casey Anthony. To be honest, I didn’t follow the story except for what I heard or saw in the headlines and I’m keeping my half-informed opinions to myself. But, as I browsed the newspaper yesterday morning (yes, that old-fashioned, get ink all over your fingertips thing) I ran across an article (Chicago Tribune, Nation & World, July 15, 2011) about how social media shaped Anthony’s defense and the anthropologist in me was intrigued. Anthony’s defense hired a consultant to analyze the social media buzz surrounding the trial, “40,000 highly charged opinions,” it says. The defense adjusted their strategy based on the information they received about public sentiment. No big deal, right? Attorneys in high profile cases have been playing off public opinion for a long time, just with slower technology. The interesting thing to me, is that in an age of easy, instant communication Anthony’s team was able to change its tactics very quickly to influence opinion in favor of their client. The article did not address what direct effect, if any, this had on the jury. But, Anthony’s jury was made up of regular people and, surely, gauging public sentiment and how it changes in regards to an adjustment in a defense strategy provides a pretty good model for what is going on in a juror’s head. If you can drive opinion outside of the courtroom, then you can do the same inside and, in this case, instantly. The article concludes with a quote from Florida A&M University professor Shiv Parsaud about how social media might become a part of his law school curriculum and how attorneys could benefit from this “new kind of tool.” It is, by all appearances, a powerful one.
From my blog at: http://www.scribeonfire.com/blog
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