Jeff Jarvis on crime-solving on the net

Buzz Machine looks at one of the darker corners of the web-crime websites.

This reminds me of the crime magazines my grandmother used to read (in the days before supermarket tabloids). There's an obsession with crimes, a romance even.

He also makes a prediction:

Then again, I'll bet that sometime soon, these citizen sleuths will solve a crime because this new medium brings together the wisdom (and evidence) of the crowds.

I suppose it is possible. Blind pigs and acorns and all that. But I don't think web forums like catcbtk are the future of crime-solving. The central problem was identified by Dilbert years ago. (See here.)

Message boards do a lousy job of separating information from rumor and they reward speculation over sound fact-checking.

I know we are supposed to be enthralled with the wisdom of crowds but there is a reason why camels are described as horses designed by committees.

The limitations of citizen sleuthing are illustrated by television's experience. Shows like America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries, and Crimestoppers have a decent record at tracking down known suspects. They have a miserable record of solving real unsolved mysteries. Crowds, it seems, are good at finding needles in a haystack, but are pretty bad at finding the right haystack. They are even worse at discovering that they are looking for needles instead of acorns.