Social engineering

There is social manipulation, but I think the term 'social engineering' is relevant to a wider effect on people than typical manipulation.

An example might be what is known to me as 'moral panic'. If there is an incident of gang-crime, then does the mass-media coverage serve to encourage more youths into gangs as well as scare the rest of society into acting? I think both are accomplished, and it is evident that sometimes gangs act based in a 'fame and fortune' scenario - especially with regards to Hip-Hop culture; so does general coverage of gang-murder serve to cause more gang-murder? Probably. Thus the question is raised: Does the media intentionally cause youths to fall into gangs via coverage? Possibly, depending on what media circles.

I think that is the general 'social engineering' idea.

Social engineering is a term used specifically to define the act of asking specific questions in order to get information that you should more than likely not have or that you have not gone through the proper procedures to obtain. I have to know about this for work as I work for the Federal Government.

Basically, Social engineering is social manipulation with the specific goal of gathering secretive information by asking questions which trick the other person (who has the info) into giving you one piece at a time.