Today Twitter celebrates its
seventh birthday. It was on this
day in 2006 that creator Jack
Dorsey sent out his very first
tweet and a new social network
was born. And while many similar
sites may have withered and
effectively died (think MySpace
and Bebo), Twitter has grown in
popularity, approval, and global
recognition. By their own
estimations, Twitter has over 200
million active users, with over 400
million tweets sent every single
day.
It may have attracted its fair
share of criticism from
technophobes and cynics, but all
sorts of people have recognised
the importance of joining and
engaging with the Twittersphere:
politicians, musicians, bloggers,
journalists and budding
celebrities. The potential to
reach and interact with fans is
incomparable; Justin Bieber, Lady
Gaga and Katy Perry have a
collective fan base of over 100
million followers.
But of course as with every
successful social network there
was always likely to be a number
of controversies; some of which
would have life-changing
consequences for those involved.
One such example is the Twitter
joke trial which all started in
January 2010. After discovering
that his upcoming travel plans
could be in jeopardy, 26-year-old
Paul Chambers tweeted: “Crap!
Robin Hood airport is closed.
You’ve got a week and a bit to
get your s**t together, otherwise
I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”
Mr Chambers was heavily fined
for what had essentially been a
misguided joke and it took three
separate appeals before his
conviction was finally quashed in
July 2012 – more than two-and-
a-half years after the tweet had
been sent.
A more recent example of legally-
problematic tweeting came
courtesy of Sally Bercow, former
Celebrity Big Brother contestant
and wife of the Speaker of the
House of Commons. Mrs Bercow
alluded to false claims of Lord
McAlpine’s involvement in a child
abuse scandal when she tweeted
“Why is Lord McAlpine trending?
*innocent face*” to her 56,000
followers in November 2012.
Mrs Bercow is now in the process
of being sued for libel by Lord
McAlpine. Twitter users who
retweeted the claim were
originally threatened with legal
action too, but – to the relief of
many – it seems like most of these
offenders are now off the hook.
Such misuses of Twitter seems to
be happening more and more
regularly in recent times, which is
perhaps inevitable as the
microblogging site continues to
expand. Whether it’s the
barefaced snubbing of Ryan
Giggs’ superinjuction, naming the
rape victim in the Ched Evans trial,
or sharing recent photographs
of one of the James Bulger
murderers, it seems that many
people regard Twitter as a safe
haven for flouting these legal
responsibilities.
But just because you hide behind
a computer screen it does not
excuse you from laws regarding
defamation and contempt of
court, and you’ll do yourself no
favours for behaving as though
you’re above the law. Over 650
people faced criminal charges
last year in connection with
comments that they had shared
on social network websites,
including Twitter.
Twitter has become a useful and
powerful tool over these last
seven years, and its power and
popularity continue to grow.
Although it can be used for
anything, whether it’s raising
your public profile or simply
sharing a few thoughts with
friends, the potential for misuse is
ever-present for each and every
user.
So go ahead, use Twitter’s great
features and its international
reach to your own advantage –
but remember to tweet
responsibly!
www.blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/21/twitters-7th-birthday-a-look-back-at-the-controversies/
www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_twitter-turns-seven-years-old_1814147

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