What you know can indeed hurt you. Twitter has not only coined a new verb, to tweet (tweet, tweeting) and a new noun, Tweeter, one who tweets, but also created an environment for snoops to learn far more about you than you may ever want learned….
With the crazy popularity of Twitter and Facebook, private investigators are no longer needed to dig up the goods. The Financial Times interviewed divorce attorney, Linda Lea Viken who is apparently a fan of the services.
“We used to use PIs, and occasionally got incriminating pictures. Now we just look on Facebook. It’s cheaper, and it’s usually better. Instead of getting pictures taken from outside the houses, I get pictures taken inside.”
Facebook dirt even came up on the most recent season of the Bachelorette – Justin, the crazy Wrestler dude, had told his girlfriend at home to stay off Facebook . . . apparently he had another gf on Facebook. And both ladies knew he was “chasing” Ali on the show . . . um, hello . . . red flag anyone? Anyway, when non-Facebook gf signed into the service she discovered the ruse. Justin hobbled off the show through shrubbery to avoid Ali’s wrath.
Justin into the shrubbery, 40s
If you think that private message are not admissible . . . think again. That’s why the attorneys are having a field day with social networking sites. Most of the information is super public – as in, anyone can see it at anytime – even if you have a privacy setting (“only show wall to friends,” etc.) and what is not super public requires very little work to uncover. All of it is considered admissible in court should you ever need know that….
But, you’re not worried about having an affair discovered, you’re just a regular joe or jane working to pay the bills, trying to make a good life, right?
It’s even worse for you!
HR departments are using the sites as well. If you have hopes of executive level appointments, you’d better be particularly careful. Look at what happened with Mark Hurd, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard. He was accused of misconduct and relieved of his post when it hit social sites. The fiasco started in April and agreement was reached by both sides by June without any fanfare – the Board was already well aware of the situation. But it was leaked to the media and then spread like wildfire in July. Miraculously, the Board was no longer able to see Mark as credible . . . I can’t see that Board as credible, but that’s a different bone to pick for a different day.
What you say, can and will be copied and pasted across the kingdom.
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