One of our key research questions asks whether social media can augment our understanding of POI homicides beyond federal and local data sets and media reports. To test this we used data from 2012, the most recent available SHR data, and a year for which there were either 33 POI deaths, as reported by the SHR, or 39, reported by the LA Times.

Going through each of the 39 names in the LA Times, we found three types of social media traces of the deceased.

The first type of trace is persistence of the deceased's activity on social media.

ALEXANDER NESTOITER, 49
18 October, 2012

The second type of trace is memorials created on social media, often by family or a community. 

ABDUL ARIAN, 19
11 April,2012

The last type of social media trace is sensationalized commentary posted by media or observers. The comments tell more about the cultural reactions to these deaths, often in the form of vitriolic and racist remarks, than about the lives of the victims.

STEVE RODRIGUEZ, 22
23 January, 2012

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OVERVIEW

The actual presence of these deaths on social media are quite low.

Of the 30 we searched, we found only four social media memorials, 4 videos posted on youtube, 5 mentioned in some form on social media, such as individual tweets or a blog post, and one with traces of his social media activity still online.

25 turned up no verifiable social media results.