I think it's admirable for us to aspire to being cyper sleuths--especially those of you doing so much grunt work with the search engines.
I think it's also crucial--for humility reasons, for one--TO KEEP IN MIND THAT WE *ARE* amateurs.
Perhaps some warrant a more lofty label--Jill etc. who have been confirmed by some officialdom. AND, I think you, granny et al do honorable, laudable, worthy work of value to us and potentially our nation.
We realistically are a group of lay persons with an above average inclination toward paranoia, obsessiveness etc. who are trying hard to blunt the advantages of the enemy in our resisting terror. It's a worthy task and no other personality types are likely to bother, much less to this extent.
AND, having been involved in highly classified communications and seen government efforts up close and personal--I'd guess we can do as much good as a lot of government orgs, sadly!
Alas, we can be as diligent about sourced data as possible; we can be as 'professional' in our wording and analysis as possible . . . etc. . . . and most alphabet orgs would still look down on us rather disdainfully. Arrogance is epidemic in our society and particularly in such organizations. In far too many cases, if THEY didn't come up with it--then it's not worth consideration. So we needn't fool ourselves.
We can be comforted that Old Sarge et al have some sympathy for our efforts here and therefore we have channels to those who can do something about what we find and our analysis. That's probably the best we can routinely hope for. That's enough.
Just, imho.