The Dangers of Twitter

[Just18]

I am aware that discussion of this could easily go political, so I ask posters not to address any political element in their responses ......  if you do this thread will be deleted. Thank you.

Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'.
Leigh Van Bryan, 26, was handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours after landing in Los Angeles with pal Emily Bunting.
The Department of Homeland Security flagged him as a potential threat when he posted an excited tweet to his pals about his forthcoming trip to Hollywood which read: 'Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?'

The fact that the post meant something different where it was posted from means little apparently ....  it is the impression it makes on a reader, even in another locale, that can affect the poster in unexpected ways.

It should be a warning to all who use social media, that their use of language & colloquialisms can get them into serious trouble!

[sling-shot]

This is not limited to Twitter but the whole universe of social media in general in this era of cheap storage and near universal search capabilities of governments / resourceful individuals.
Anything you say or do anywhere can and will be used against you until the end of your life.

[aguila]

Well it always comes down to " Think before you act ".

And on the internet it' s "Think twice before you act, because the internet never forgets and big brother is watching you!"

[Just18]

The point I was making, which I did not seem to get across, is that words used by a poster in one location can have a completely different meaning in another.

This complicates things no end .....  as any poster cannot be expected to know the colloquialisms of another location, nor indeed the possible interpretations in other locations if a colloquialism is used in a post.

I know I am constantly making adjustments to my 'reading' of posts on these forums, because of use of words/language with which I am unfamiliar or that have meanings that are obviously not intended.

So interpretation is dependent on the posters location and the context in which it was posted.

It appears in the case above, that this basic principle of reading on line was totally ignored .......  or even worse unknown!

Well it always comes down to " Think before you act ".

And on the internet it' s "Think twice before you act, because the internet never forgets and big brother is watching you!"

You think there was something the poster should have done differently while conversing with his peers?

This is not limited to Twitter but the whole universe of social media in general in this era of cheap storage and near universal search capabilities of governments / resourceful individuals.
Anything you say or do anywhere can and will be used against you until the end of your life.

....  and there was nothing at all wrong with what was posted, in the context in which it was posted.
What do you suggest should have been done differently?

[kjpetrie]

Yes, that's the problem. People think they're having a private joke with others who are in on it. They don't consider how an outsider would interpret it because their remarks are not intended for an outsider.

On the other hand, you have to be rather uninformed not to realise the Internet is never a private place, nor is any form of electronic communication. Unfortunately, people on the whole seem to be rather uninformed. I have had incredulous responses from close friends when I said I prefer not to use a SatNav because I don't want to be tracked. They really couldn't see the problem - that people being tracked by centralised computers is dangerous to basic freedoms.

We all have things we're ashamed of, or private language we don't want to be misunderstood. Freedom means not having to worry about them because no one knows or cares. That is what we all have to hide, and the loss of that freedom is what we all have to fear.

[chilly]

I do not text because the receiver of the message might not understand my humor,at least with a forum you can edit,with a text "once it's sent it stays that way"and twitter is the same.

[aguila]

You cannot edit your twitter posts?

Good I don't have an account 

[chilly]

I don't have a twitter account,can you edit twitter post's?

[Just18]

Yes, that's the problem. People think they're having a private joke with others who are in on it. They don't consider how an outsider would interpret it because their remarks are not intended for an outsider.

On the other hand, you have to be rather uninformed not to realise the Internet is never a private place, nor is any form of electronic communication. Unfortunately, people on the whole seem to be rather uninformed. I have had incredulous responses from close friends when I said I prefer not to use a SatNav because I don't want to be tracked. They really couldn't see the problem - that people being tracked by centralised computers is dangerous to basic freedoms.

We all have things we're ashamed of, or private language we don't want to be misunderstood. Freedom means not having to worry about them because no one knows or cares. That is what we all have to hide, and the loss of that freedom is what we all have to fear.

Not sure what point you are making there ......  are you saying that we should not post because someone somewhere might misunderstand what is said/meant/whatever .....  regardless of their location on the planet?

That would seem mighty odd, if that is what you meant.

[djohnston]

I may be wrong, and I'm sure kjpetrie will correct me if I am. I believe his intent is to say, "They don't consider that an 'authority' figure could misinterpret what was said and use it against the person who said it."

We all have things we're ashamed of, or private language we don't want to be misunderstood. Freedom means not having to worry about them because no one knows or cares. That is what we all have to hide, and the loss of that freedom is what we all have to fear.

+1

[Just18]

Seems to me what is being said is that I should not post using colloquialisms because some 'authority' someplace might misinterpret it as something else which would only be possible when taken completely out of context?

That is waaaay too much freedom for me to give up.

Remember what we are discussing here .......  a guy posts to his mates that he is going to party hard when he gets to the US.

That is taken out of context and he is accused of being a terrorist.

So what language should he have posted in?

I am just not understanding how this guy is in any way to blame for what happened.
He posted to his friends in his own language.
Surely you don't believe he should have used a different language?

I remain confused .....

[kjpetrie]

I'm with djohnston.

The point is, we are being very foolish if we don't realise what we publish online will not only be read by our friends. Sadly, many people are apparently fooled.

No electronic communication is private. Let me illustrate with a little story:

In 1987 I did a pastoral project for my degree and I chose to do it on Northern Ireland, so I rang round some peace and reconciliation groups there to arrange meetings during my trip. Shortly after I came back, my phone's ringer started to give a little chirp at around 9:10 pm every night. It varied a few minutes every evening, so it wasn't controlled by a timer, and it would sometimes change to a completely different time for a week or a fortnight, especially during August. If I happened to be on a call around 9:10-9:15 pm, the chirp would happen a couple of minutes after I replaced the receiver. This continued for about ten years until the day my local exchange went digital, when the connection would have become buffered and switching off a machine connected to it to change the tape would no longer send a pulse back down the line.

I don't know whether they're still listening, but I would never assume they're not.

[Abraxas]

I think everybody's opinions are correct, and I also know what I say can be interpretted completely differently to what I intended due to localised usage of my English. It happens here constantly.

I also feel the U.S. are very, very sensitive about security on air flights, and rightly so.

The fact that they are watching 'Tweets' so closely indicates that.

The only way a person's intent can more than vaguely be comprehended, in my opinion, is to be face to face. Hear the tone of the speakers' voice, see their eyes, facial expressions, and body language.

With that said, I don't know if there is two sides to argue the point; whether you have to hold back expressing yourself online. However in sensitive circumstances, which could be any number of situations, in Business, etc. it is probably polite to be aware that posting online of any content that implies causing damage, or cultural mayhem to a locale you are visiting could be interpreted wrongly, and get you in trouble if heading somewhere volatile.

What most shocks me is that the Twit who tweeted to his mates was read by U.S. security.

[Just18]

I'm with djohnston.

The point is, we are being very foolish if we don't realise what we publish online will not only be read by our friends. Sadly, many people are apparently fooled.

No electronic communication is private. Let me illustrate with a little story:

In 1987 I did a pastoral project for my degree and I chose to do it on Northern Ireland, so I rang round some peace and reconciliation groups there to arrange meetings during my trip. Shortly after I came back, my phone's ringer started to give a little chirp at around 9:10 pm every night. It varied a few minutes every evening, so it wasn't controlled by a timer, and it would sometimes change to a completely different time for a week or a fortnight, especially during August. If I happened to be on a call around 9:10-9:15 pm, the chirp would happen a couple of minutes after I replaced the receiver. This continued for about ten years until the day my local exchange went digital, when the connection would have become buffered and switching off a machine connected to it to change the tape would no longer send a pulse back down the line.

I don't know whether they're still listening, but I would never assume they're not.

We are at cross purposes it seems.

There was no expectation of privacy in the post in question, as I understand it.
It was posted openly for all to read.

But what has happened is that two people have lost considerably .....  their holiday & all that involves ..... not because of anything that was done or said that was wrong in any way.

I continue to ask .....  what could the guy have done differently?

Use a different language seems to be the only answer, and that is not practical or indeed reasonable.

He posted on a social medium, in a manner that all intended readers understood.

I see the pair of them as completely innocent victims of stupidity on the part of others.

Also, IMO, you can be assured that your phone is still being tapped, as are all your emails and forum posts being vetted.

BTW ......  it was my understanding that there is an arrangement between the UK and US, that pre-approves travellers going from the UK to US.
If that is presently in place then one wonders why these two were not prevented from boarding in the UK? It would at least have saved them some hassle.

[Just18]

What most shocks me is that the Twit who tweeted to his mates was read by U.S. security.

If that shocked you, then I think you need to delve into things a bit to inform yourself.

It not only concerns posts on Twitter or other social media, but also emails and telephone communications ........  on a world wide basis.

ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK–USA Security Agreement (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as AUSCANNZUKUS or Five Eyes).[1][2] It has also been described as the only software system which controls the download and dissemination of the intercept of commercial satellite trunk communications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon_(signals_intelligence)