London (CNN) -- The days of would-be terrorists needing to travel to far-off camps to make contacts and learn how to build bombs is rapidly receding. Social media forums like Twitter and Facebook provide a ready made Rolodex of sources -- dig further online, mine those contacts further, gain admission to private chat forums and eventually you will find instructions for bomb making. Last month al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) launched a Twitter account that has already gained more than 5,500 followers, and AQIM's account is following seven people including the Somali terrorist group Al Shabaab's official twitter handle and the al Nusra front in Syria, which in turn is following another rebel group in Aleppo.Social media forums can provide sources for would-be terroristsBritish security services monitor social media sites to track groups and individualsSome experts think terrorists have "self radicalized" through social mediaOthers believe that ultimately there is almost always a terrorist "mentor"
The dead _ chief was very careful to stay away from electronic devices himself, but it is thought he wrote down messages on pieces of paper which a trusted lieutenant would then type and save on to a USB stick, finally passing this to someone else to post on the forum.