Twitter Danger?

The National Law Journal is warning us all that using Twitter may have dangers - it may subject you or your employer - or your clients to liability.  Tweets might be discoverable - you might be giving up trade secrets or end up in litigation because of Twittering employees....

  All of the very same dangers for opening your mouth in public.

When will these silly scare tactics end.  OK, probably never - it sells papers and scares clients into calling their lawyers.  This is just silly though.  Twitter is just one more means of communication - it happens to be one that is particularly catching on with the professional crowd.  I have made contact with great people who I otherwise would not have met and learned things quickly and efficiently.  With it I'm tied into a great network of people - many of them lawyers - across the country.

Are their risks?  Yes - any time you communicate you are at risk of saying something stupid, idiotic, or illegal (or at least with legal ramifications).  The NLJ article not only fails to point out the value that has made Twitter a valuable personal and corporate communication tool - it fails to show how any of the "dangers" are different or exacerbated by the use of Twitter.  Truth is what I said up top.  The dangers are the same dangers one has anytime we open our mouth in public!

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Thank you
written by Patrick DiDomenico, December 24, 2008

Thanks for helping to dispel the fear about the "danger of Twitter" (or any other public forum) over another - including opening your mouth in public. As you rightly suggest, it's not the forum, but the message, that can be dangerous. Don't say anything in Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn, etc. that you wouldn't say anywhere else.

Funny, as I am writing this, this came up on Twitter by @glambert: "Golden Rule of Communication: Don't write anything you wouldn't want your boss or grandmother to see!!" Enough said.

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