Archive for the ‘Twitter’ Category

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Twitter Privacy Issue

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Privacy has always been a normal topic when we talk about Twitter. It was not so long ago when another social updating website called BrightKite is featured in Oprah because of its location targeting issues. Since anyone can track where a person is currently at, that person is prone to different types of crimes which may include kidnapping and stalking.

But then Twitter seemed to have the same problems. With it, people will know what you are doing and where you are just by simply looking at your updates. This makes your life less private.

But then we should start to question if Twitter really is a threat to a person’s privacy. The difference is it is not like a video camera that tracks people wherever they go. The information is disclosed with the consent of the person.

In fact, some people may portray their lives differently than what they really are. But this is another issue and it concerns fakers. Some may even imitate popular celebrities which is the reason why some celebs have filed cases against social media websites.

The thing is, you can choose the information you will disclose. Given this, privacy is not really an issue. A person is only going to disclose information that he likes the people to know publicly. In my opinion, Twitter is more focused on information than location. So robberies and other things are outside of the realm of concern except for those in the individual’s inner circle of friends.

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Twitter Suspends Maintenance for Important Matters

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

There was a controversial suspension of Twitter maintenance last June 15, 2009 and the Iranian protests were the reason. Twitter has noticed the surge of tweets from young Iranians about what is happening in their country just as their other means of expression are suppressed.

Twitter found this to be a very crucial time to suspend operations so they decided to proceed with it. After all, there are Iranians all over the world who are dying to know what is happening in their country. The no-maintenance campaign was then launched by thousands of Twitter users leading the website to follow and be a part of the important event taking place in Iran.

This only proves that Twitter stands by its goal to be a tool to transfer information in the quickest way possible. Just as a lot of foreign writers are being banned, Twitter will stay alive to tell you about the Iranian protests.

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Twitter as a Protest Tool

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

It was only on last June 16 that we have witnessed a protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election. Just as with any country that have experienced an extreme form of suppression of the freedom of expression, you can expect different forms of media being bogged down by the government. But not today that Twitter is here.

There have been lots of talks about Twitter being a news tool. A lot of people condemned it as a headline-only type of reporting proclaiming its uselessness. But the young Iranians proved this to be wrong. They can get the news out in their own little way because of the social updating website.

But is this good or bad? It is good in the sense that it gives people an area to express themselves. This applies especially in times of crisis. But of course, mobile phones are also to blame here for they are also tools to spread news.

The only bad thing I can see in this evolution of information transfer is the lack of authority. Some news may get distorted as it is passed from one person to another and some people may make claims that are not really in their area of expertise. This distortion will result in misinformation.

The best part of Twitter is that it can also reach people in other countries. We have seen people migrate like crazy and this can be a valuable tool to know what is happening in their homeland. Take the situation of the Iranian student in the US for instance. “These days for like 24 hours, I didn’t sleep. I got three hours sleep in the last three days. It’s been really intense. I’m worried about my friends; they’ve been on the streets,” he said.

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Twitter Impersonation – Should the matter be brought to court?

Friday, June 12th, 2009

It is not unusual for social networks to face impersonators or “fakers”. These people take the personalities of popular people or entities and then they create an account with the name. The positive side is that this provides free viral marketing for the person or entity. But on the downside, it can damage their reputation without them knowing it.

Lately, Twitter has faced a lot of complaints from popular people. Some of these are Kanye West and actor Ewan McGregor who had impersonators on Twitter. It is a good thing that Twitter always acts quickly once it gets a complaint. However, acting quickly will not be enough for Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.

Apparently, LaRussa decided to take the matter to court. After all, unlike the past celebrities who only had fake profiles, LaRussa also has a fake personality. It seems that his impersonator is not there to promote his name but to destroy it. With this, LaRussa decided to sue Twitter for trademark infringement.

But is it really Twitter’s fault? According to LaRussa, it is. They are the one who own the site in the first place. If only they had moderated the accounts, a thing like this will not happen. He also made a claim that Twitter has benefited from his fake account with the message “Tony LaRussa is using Twitter”.

The problem here is that trademark infringement can only happen if one party has proven to have benefitted with the sheer use of the name. However, Twitter or the account owner did not seem to have gained anything of monetary value from using his name. It is just created as a joke as the account’s profile shows “bio parodies are fun for everyone”.

But does this mean that we should let Twitter impersonation slide? Of course not! It is still identity theft and should be taken care of. I guess this is also a wake-up call for Twitter to start monitoring the accounts being created on their website.

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