Thursday, December 2, 2010

Week 2: Tweet much? Tweet too much?




- Do you realize just how public your tweets are? The Tweetleak video from http://www.defaulttopublic.net/tweetleak/index.html demonstrates the extents that a tweet can reach. When someone tweets about something on Twitter, it sometimes seems as though they do not realize that there are really no boundaries when it comes to www (the world wide web). People do not realize the potential of their tweet once they hit enter on their keyboards.

That little piece of information, that thought, that in-the-moment emotion or idea no longer belongs to you. It belongs to whoever wants it, and anyone can do anything with it. But wait, that’s not all. Not only have you lost control of your tweet, you also have no control over your username attached to it. That tweet can forever be associated with you, and it can reach places you would never want it to reach. It is possible that it can reach places that you will not be able to reach yourself. Your tweet is much greater than you can ever imagine. It is faster than you can ever be. No matter how hard you try to keep track of it, it will always be at least one step ahead of you. So, be careful dear tweeter what you tweet. As long as you have no problem at all with what you have to say reaching any and every corner of the world, go ahead and tweet away. If, however, there is something on your mind that you would not want every single person in this world to know about, tweet you not! If there is even a slight chance that you would be uncomfortable about your tweet – whether it be the fact that you wouldn’t want your mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, partner, friend, teacher, boss or ex ever knowing that you composed that tweet; or whether it be the fact that you think that someone, somewhere in the world would be upset about your tweet which could lead to negative implications, refrain from twittering. Do not assume that just because you can hit delete, you can decide when your tweet is completely erased from history. As mentioned before, your tweet is much faster than you. It will not wait for you. In that split second that you post your tweet, you lose control of it. Right there on twitter.com, in the “Terms of Service,” it tells you that “[y]ou are responsible for your use of the Services, for any content you post to the Services, and for any consequences thereof.” It also lets you know that “[w]hat you say on Twitter may be viewed all around the world instantly. You are what you Tweet!” How many twitter-ers actually read that? Take this seriously. My advice to you is this: Pretend that the world is your audience and Twitter is your stage. That being said, happy tweeting!


-Roger that!-

Signed: Non-Analog

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