Photo Credit: Fari Bustamante
September 26, 2011
Filed under Opinion, Top Stories
Tweeting in class. It’s like passing notes on the Internet.
Twitter use has reached 200 million posts a day, and, according to researchers, most of them are junk. Students contribute their share of those tweets during class while commenting on their teachers and peers, never giving thought to how these insults might affect them in the future. Everyone remembers the stupid things their peers say – at least until lunch or soccer practice. But a tweet is forever saved in cyberspace. Voluntarily posting every thought that comes into your head, which seems to be Twitter’s reason for being, is a sure way to say something stupid, regrettable and irreversible.
On Sept. 9, a Shaker student (who has a public Twitter account) tweeted during class a wish for the teacher to fly away using her underarm flab “wings.” This student has also posted dozens of offensive tweets that targeted teachers and students alike. Legally, this student has done nothing wrong, but such vicious, profane and on-the-spot thoughts can’t be adjusted or permanently deleted. Even if your conscience doesn’t filter your hateful language, your ambitions should. Colleges and employers know how to look for private information; followers aren’t the only ones who can see private tweets. Interviewers will scour social media to learn the truth about a candidate’s character. Examples of people losing jobs due to Twitter posts abounds.
It may be fun to pass the time by virtually assaulting your teacher or classmate in 140 characters, but a single tweet can prevent you from going to your first choice school or prevent you from getting a job. It could also violate the Shaker’s harassment policy. In the case of this student, The Shakerite has digital copies of these damaging Twitter posts. We chose not to print them or identify the student who wrote them. We doubt that this student’s acquaintances, the administration, prospective employers or colleges would be so kind as to ignore the student’s Twitter behavior if discovered.
If you are a Twitter user, the people who may see your tweets includes your followers, their friends, their family, your family and, if you’re not careful, the rest of the world. Twitter’s privacy settings include “private” and “not private,” and the private setting is far from what the name suggests. Facebook and Twitter pages are the first visible links when a person Googles an individual. Twitter has set up blocks around the contents of a private Twitter page, but some information is still available, and there are many ways to get around the blocks. On the other hand, the “not private” setting has no blocks whatsoever; it really means 100 percent public, allowing access to anyone who wants it.
Derogatory public tweets can seriously affect a person’s future, whether he or she is the tweeter or the target. For the person on the receiving end of the tweet, a few things could happen. Their reputations could be damaged based on false information, prompting the targeted individual to sue the tweeter for libel. Libel constitutes publication of a false, damaging statement about an identifiable person. Calling someone ugly in a Twitter post is not libel. It is hurtful and shouldn’t be done, but it does not damage the target’s reputation. Saying that a teacher failed you on purpose, for examople, is potentially libelous. The message could damage a teacher’s professional reputation, and the person who tweeted – not Twitter – could face a lawsuit. Because the essential defense against a libel charge is that the information is true and can proved in court, students who posted such statements would be hard pressed to defend themselves against a libel charge.
To all of the tweeters out there, be mindful of what you tweet. There are undoubtedly many more students abusing others via Twitter. We chose not to identify one of them, but other pepole won’t be so kind. Your cruel words could end tragically – for you or for the target of your hate.
A version of this article appeared in print on 26 September 2011, on page 5 of The Shakerite.
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