The unique feature of social media as a platform for news is that the public can directly engage with content. In this way, the public shapes the narrative on current issues, including crime. Criminal justice agencies have leveraged this engagement to relay information about missing persons’ cases quickly and efficiently to a large audience. Whereas previous research has explored disparities in news coverage of missing persons’ cases, it is unknown whether the public perpetuates these same disparities in the social media realm. This study contributes to the current literature by examining public engagement with missing persons’ social media content. Results suggest that engagement along some dimensions corresponds to disparities found in traditional news coverage, namely with regard to race, where marginalized victims experience less engagement. Further, there is evidence of an interaction between race and runaway status. Certain posting behaviors are also related to several forms of user engagement with missing persons’ posts; however, case characteristics remain prominent engagement-shaping factors. Implications for these findings are discussed from both a theoretical and practitioner standpoint.

中文翻译：

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新的牛奶盒运动：社交媒体与失踪人员案件的互动分析

社交媒体作为新闻平台的独特之处在于公众可以直接参与内容。通过这种方式，公众塑造了对当前问题的叙述，包括犯罪。刑事司法机构利用这种参与将有关失踪人员案件的信息快速有效地传递给广大受众。尽管之前的研究探讨了失踪人员案件新闻报道的差异，但公众是否会在社交媒体领域延续这些相同的差异尚不清楚。本研究通过检查公众对失踪人员社交媒体内容的参与，为当前的文献做出了贡献。结果表明，在某些方面的参与对应于传统新闻报道中发现的差异，即在种族方面，边缘化受害者的参与度较低。此外，有证据表明种族和失控状态之间存在相互作用。某些发帖行为还与用户对失踪人员帖子的几种参与形式有关；然而，案例特征仍然是影响参与的突出因素。从理论和从业者的角度讨论了这些发现的含义。