How a tweet from 2020 saved my final

While reporting on the issues with parole, I initially had a hard time finding sources. With Professor Kennedy’s suggestion, I decided to look at books on Amazon to find people researching and studying the issue. I found a book called “The Second Chance Club: Hardship and Hope After Prison” written by former parole officer Jason Hardy. I was extremely excited because I had been wanting to speak with a parole officer, yet felt deflated after I was unable to find virtually anything on the author. Turns out, he is now an FBI agent so it makes sense that he does not have much of a digital footprint. When I asked what he did with the FBI, he told me that he was not at liberty to say. Before giving up, I typed the authors name and book title into the X search bar and came upon a Tweet from 2020 from someone who praised their “friend” Jason Hardy on his book. I looked up the user’s name and found her own personal website advertising her writing skills. I decided to use the “contact me” page to reach out (I couldn’t message her directly on X) and was surprised that within a day, she emailed me back. She said that she hadn’t kept in touch with Hardy lately, but was happy to reach out on my behalf. Two days later I interviewed him. I’d like to think I also rekindled their friendship. Hardy was instrumental in my final reporting and I am indebted to X user @KristinDSanders. I didn’t use social media for anything else for the story.