Digital media startup Vocativ launched with ambitions to use data mining techniques for journalistic ends.
Now, it's giving a peek under the hood of that proprietary technology.
On Thursday, Vocativ is launching Social Map, a public tool that lets users search for location-specific information such as tweets, Instagram posts or YouTube videos. It will provide a raw look at information as well as an editor-curated feed.
Vocativ began in October 2013 with a focus on using data to find stories and perspectives that would form the basis for news stories. The site placed a particular emphasis on combing the "deep web," which is usually inaccessible through traditional discovery means like search engines.
Its Social Map, which will be featured at the upcoming SXSW Interactive Festival, is powered by Verne, the internal platform that Vocativ journalists use to unearth stories and find sources as well as news. That technology has yielded some scoops, such as the video in which a gunman who killed four hostages in a Paris grocery store discussed his allegiance to ISIS.
Its usefulness has also been called into question, particularly by a story from Capital New York, which stated that some within the company had not found the software as useful as claimed.
Earlier in 2015, Vocativ went through a reorganization that resulted in then-CEO Scott Cohen leaving the company and the addition of former head of news and product at NBC News Digital Gregory Gittrich as chief content officer.
A Vocativ spokesperson said the site currently attracts about 2.5 million unique monthly visitors.