Social Media Data for Audit Evidence

• In Event: Fraud and Audit

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss if social media data can be used as meaningful evidence for audit risk assessment by attempting to address the following questions: how an auditor can extract meaningful information about the entity’s risks from the social media data? What aspect of a risk can be measured from social media data and how? What are the implications of risk assessment using real time social media data on audit planning? Social media platforms have been increasingly used by the public to exchange ideas and opinions on various topics. As audit risk rises when the actual economic activities of a company are not fairly represented in the financial statements, the contextual evidence collected from social media data revealing the public response to the social and economic activities of the company would help improve the auditor’s risk assessment.

Authors

• Daehyun Moon, Emporia State University

• M George Durler, Emporia State University