The social media app Instagram claims 300 million users document their lives through uploaded daily worldwide. But not all of them use the app wisely, as some Miami Instagrammers have had their posts used against them as evidence in criminal cases.
One Miamian unknowingly published an act of voyeurism while another used the app to aid his criminal activity by uploading pictures of stolen goods for sale.
But why do people turn to social media with incriminating content?
Miami Herald courts reporter David Ovalle wrote on the topic suggesting people don’t think twice about publicizing their everyday lives on social media. Because of this, Ovalle thinks something that is either illegal or helpful to build a criminal case may inevitably be posted.
“I think it’s a case of people just not realizing that the law is watching,” Ovalle says. “Other people are watching and this is very valid and powerful evidence in court if someone notices it.”
Ryan Morejon, social media manager of Florida International University, adds to this by saying that Instagram has become a platform to boast because people aren’t really aware of the severity of the content posted.
“There’s a sense of invincibility when it comes to posting content on there, especially if it’s your own personal content,” Morejon says.
He suggests this invincibility exists because social media sites once offered a sense of anonymity before their growth. This carried over despite the popularity because the posts then weren’t used against people, creating a false sense of security.
Carter Hay, a professor and graduate director in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University, ties this sense of invincibility with low self-control and the associated urge to seize immediate benefits.
“The bragging and the boasting may offer some sort of immediate benefit in terms of making them feel better about themselves or glamorizing something that they’ve done, and they may really seize upon that benefit,” Hay says.
Hay says that bragging on social media could instead take the place of face-to-face interactions. The problem is that comes with an electronic record.
Morejon believes awareness of this electronic record being used as evidence will lead to people eventually being more cautious with their social media posts. Ovalle, on the other hand, thinks individuals are too accustomed to doing this to break their habits.
"I think it’s just become such a second nature thing for us to post photos of whatever it is that we’re doing," he says, "that it’s just the consequences aren’t there right away for people."
