With the world in various stages of shutdown and emotions running high, folks are turning to social media to vent, break the isolation, and connect with the world. And anytime they post, they’re unwittingly passing on more clues about themselves than they can possibly fathom.

For investigators, social media posts have always been a trove of information, and those posts and images can offer more data than initially meets the eye. For example, if you use Facebook, you may have seen the “# of years ago” (“your memories” feature) pop up in your feed from time to time. It shows you a photo memory you posted several years before, then gives you the option of reposting to your current feed. This is potentially valuable information, especially if the accident you’re investigating happened several years ago — say, the year that “memory” was posted.

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