Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism

RATIONALES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA USE
While people once went online to seek anonymity (
McKenna and Bargh, 2000
), to-
day one of the main purposes of online activities is socializing. Still, the main reason 

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Features of social media users and use
to use social media in this sense is not for the creation of new relationships with 
strangers, but the maintenance of existing relationships (e.g., 
Campbell and Kwak, 
2011; Ellison et al., 2007
). Estimates are that 85–98% of participants use social me-
dia to maintain and reinforce existing offline networks consisting of friends, family 
or of people sharing similar interests (
Choi, 2006; Lenhart et al., 2013
). Users of 
mobile technologies thus tend to stay within close-knit networks, so-called monadic 
groups (
Gergen, 2008
). These groups tend to be closed to external influences and 
hard to approach online, unless someone is part of their offline communities.
Individuals vary greatly in their approaches to social media use. In general, five 
distinct user types can be differentiated (
Brandtzæg, 2012
):
1. 
Sporadic users
: This group is closest to nonusers, as they connect only rarely. 
Their main reason for SNS (Social Network Service) use is to check whether 
someone has been in touch with them.
2. 
Lurkers
: The main reasons of SNS use for this group is the passive consumption 
of content others have provided online, for instance to look at photos, find 
information about friends, see if somebody has contacted them or simply to 
“kill time.”
3. 
Socializers
are interested in using SNS primarily for social activities with 
friends, family and like-minded people.
4. 
Debaters
actively contribute content by writing and uploading their own 
contributions, especially through participation in discussions and debates.
5. 
Advanced users
are the most active group on SNS and show the broadest and 
most diverse range of behaviors.
Differentiation of these user groups is important, as they vary in the likelihood with 
which they may engage in activities put forth by LEAs, such as requests for help in 
investigations, and the reasons and ways in which they may be engaged online (i.e., 
attracting socializers may need a different approach than attracting, for instance, de-
baters or lurkers). This differentiation may be especially relevant as content creators, 
i.e., the more active user groups, tend to be from relatively privileged backgrounds 
in terms of education and socio-demographic standing (
Brake, 2014
). This not only 
means that social media content may be biased toward these groups, but also that 
disadvantaged groups may be harder to reach and activate.