Effectiveness of social media monitoring software in preventing school shootings

The podcast episode explores the effectiveness of social media monitoring software in preventing school shootings. The reporter, Ari Sen, discovered that many school districts in Texas were using a service called Social Sentinel, which claims to scan social media for potential threats. However, most of the school districts did not find the service useful and canceled it after a year. Examples of false alerts included tweets with song lyrics, obvious jokes, and hyperbole. There are concerns about the algorithms used by these services, as they often struggle with slang and linguistic variations, leading to potential bias. Additionally, these services may be used for purposes beyond preventing school shootings, such as monitoring protests and activism. The podcast highlights the need for transparency and an open dialogue about the effectiveness and privacy implications of these services.