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Real-World Consequences of Social Networking Posts

Posted by kdawson on from the world-is-watching dept.

gbulmash sends in a classic Streisand Effect story of a Chicago landlord suing a tenant over a tweet complaining of mold in her apartment. The landlord claims that the tweet caused $50,000 damage to their reputation. If it didn't, then the fallout from their own ill-advised lawsuit surely will. The woman's Twitter account is now gone (possibly on advice of counsel), but the tweet that started it all lives on. And in a similar vein, reader levicivita notes a firing over a political comment on a Facebook page. "Lee Landor, who had been the deputy press secretary to Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer since May, posted comments on her Facebook page criticizing Mr. Gates [Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.] and the president, whom she referred to at one point as 'O-dumb-a.' ... The borough president has accepted Ms. Landor's resignation, effective immediately."

5 of 451 comments (clear)

  1. it was only a matter of time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    before all these social networking rantings came through to haunt/hurt us in real life....folks dont seem to understand that the internet is a serious place with actions having far reaching effects

    1. Re:it was only a matter of time by Sir_Lewk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe I'm missing something, but how is "O-dumb-a" a racial slur?

      A childish insult for sure, but racist?

      --
      "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
  2. This is stupid by EagleEye101 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I dont blame the lady for complaining. Mold is dangerous stuff and a lot of landlords dont care. My sister bought a house with undisclosed mold (illegal here in maryland) and it looks like the realitor is going to get away with it because shes a teacher who just invested her money into a house so she can not afford legal fees.These are sketchy people and deserve to be put in a bad light.

  3. Welcome to the 21st Century by Hmmm2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Any time you post something to any social networking site, you should imagine yourself on a podium in giving a presentation in front of millions of people. If you would be embarrassed to say it on stage, don't post it, because they are effectively the same thing now.

  4. Unbelievable by Svenne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When will people learn that putting something on the web is not the same as writing it down in your own personal diary?

    Really, it's not that hard.

    --

    Slagborr