Our Opinion on Twitter and Techcrunch
Posted on 17 July, 2009 at 15:17 PM
There are already 8 Comments
About the Show
We tried to avoid jumping on the bandwagon but it keeps popping into my thoughts so I dragged Marc to the couch so we could have a bit of a rant.
People need to get over themselves with this opinion about Ethics and publishing the documents of Twitter.
Watch the vid to find out more.
Links you have to read / watch:
- In Our Inbox: Hundreds Of Confidential Twitter Documents
- Twitter’s Internal Strategy Laid Bare: To Be “The Pulse Of The Planet”
- Loren Feldman's view
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User Comments
Lisa Ellwood 17 Jul, 2009 18:21:35 PM
I love you guys, but the only thing I agree with here is that Twitter has some serious security issues with their service all around. But i have to disagree about everything else. Mike A. is responsible for the furor surrounding this whole hacking debacle. His big mistake really was that he kept telling everyone he was going to drop a big Twitter bomb instead of just dropping it. He was preening like a peacock getting the masses whipped up - and then got taken aback because a good number of people did not approve of what he said he was going to do. Even then, rather than just spilling the goods - he goes on and on about what he's going to do and reacting against the negative reaction against him. Talking to Twitter wasnt on the radar until what he was planning to do became a big ethics debate. Anyway - here is my original response over at TC when the melee broke out: "my response at TC: "The argument that you might as well publish because someone else will even if you dont isnt much of a defense. Im a writer who wouldnt jump to publish this and there are plenty of us out there. Unless Twitter have been assisting politicians with exploiting loopholes in claiming expenses, are planning to invade Iran, knows where Osama is hiding out or found out who murdered Jonbenet Ramsey - then I dont see the public interest outside of tabloidish curiosity. At this point you just need to press on with what you are claiming you will do instead of talking about it. However I am wondering if TC will then do a story on the hacker whose stolen documents were conveniently *fowarded* to you? Its in the publics interest to know and certainly would be more of a points-scorer with your competitors."
Mike Smith 17 Jul, 2009 18:51:15 PM
I agree with you guys. However, I did hear "there's 8 billion people in the world - so the 1 billion twitter wants is 25%" ... um, no? LOL
Rob MacKay 18 Jul, 2009 01:13:57 AM
actually there are around 6.3bil people world wide :) not like I have counted, recently...
Duncan 20 Jul, 2009 09:15:04 AM
Good points & well put, the guys at Twitter seem to have reacted out of embarrassment - its a lesson for them. Im sure that from now on they will get their security sorted out and hopefully their own emails! ;)
Marc Perel 20 Jul, 2009 09:58:49 AM
@Mike @Rob - Ahh guys :D I was just about to correct myself on the video but Dave was already moving on. #mathsfail
David Perel 20 Jul, 2009 10:22:30 AM
@Lisa Ellwood - Hi Lisa, thanks for your response. In my opinion TC is not much more than a tabloid for Internet companies, so that is why I don't see much wrong with them publishing the documents. It is sought of what is expected from a Tabloid.
In any case, I see this all as quite mild if you compare it to the politics that exist in Formula 1. TC hasn't even gotten started, we need more drama!
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Dave Jones 17 Jul, 2009 16:01:11 PM
Here in the UK we have recently seen a similar though, dare I say, more important example. The Daily Telegraph paid for copies of MPs expense claims. In this case they were able to make a case for the public interest and I believe they were right to publish.
It turns out there is some precedent in the US too. In 2008 David Kernell hacked into the mailbox of Sarah Palin and passed several of her emails on to a blog. Kernell is now on trial for the crime, but no charges have been made against the blog in question, Gawker.
So it seems this may be unethical but appears to be legal, at least in the states.
What surprised me was the number of "This is the end for Twitter" blog posts (this one being a notable exception). This is an embarrassment to Twitter but that's all. I imagine in a years time it will be as forgotten as the fact Facebook private photos could be accessed by merely editing the URL.