As a few of you know, I am active on twitter with a fun/sometimes mockery, account of Kevin Lowe @MOTU_Lowe and I follow quite a few people, and get a lot of breaking news for the work I do in sports.
But recently I have become more and more weary of the bad it allows to happen.. on the flip of it's positives.
Case 1: what happened the other day with a model, Melissa Stetten @MelissaStetten who while on a flight, was allegedly flirted with by a married soap actor, Brian Presley... and was tweeting everything the man was saying to her... and her 13,000+ followers took this and ran with it. (Unearthed his personal info for her, etc.)
For the 'tweet story' you can read here (warning, questionable words used in the website and a slant towords Brian being an adulterer)
Problem is, Brain has since come out and denied every claim Melissa made about the trip... but Brian doesn't have 13,000 followers to take up his cause.. and of course Melissa has continued to mock his pleas of innocence.
My take: The truth is somewhere in the middle, but when I see Melissa tweeting a picture of another person sleeping on a plane.. I begin to wonder how honest this woman is. but with Brian not being able to give a full recount of his side, we will never know.. and the damage is done.
Case 2: Producer of the Bachelor/Bachelorette and others, Elan Gale @theyearofelan, get's setup on a blind date by his friend Kate. He decides he is going to 'live tweet' his whole date to his 13,000 followers.
Here is the 'tweet story' to be read here
The girl, named Jennifer is notified that he has been doing this by the mutual friend Kate.. and promptly texts him to let him know she's not coming back from the 'bathroom'.But Elan doesn't stop there, and has continued, even into today.. to post his harassing texts and messages to this Jennifer girl, and now she has started to get prank calls to her number.
My take: What could have ended with a funny joke has now taken a turn into harassment and ugliness.
It's sad to see people abusing what could be a great tool for a lot of different things..
/end rant.
Update: Recieved a direct message from Elan Gale regarding my 'Case 2'.. He directed me to re-read the latest 'update' on his feed. And now I feel silly. A very elaborate joke, that made people like myself look foolish for not reading closer. Hah. My apologies to Elan.
These examples are tame and I find more alarming how kids use these social networks for bullying. I also find it amusing that you have an issue with these examples, yet you have a dedicated account that is used to make fun/mockery of Kevin Lowe. People that are close to Lowe probably aren't happy with you mocking him and likely see you not as "fun" but as someone who is "allowing bad to happen". I have no issue with it myself, but I find it funny you don't see that.
In regards to the examples:
Case 1: I would only assume she isn't lying considering he would unearth personal info to her. I don't think it's surprising he, a married man, would deny everything.
Case 2: My thoughts aside on a producer of one of the stupidest shows around and a guy named "Elan"...this just sounds like a loser that will stay a single loser. I fail to see where the "funny joke" is too. The idiot used a blind date to gain attention. Pretty lame. And if he continues to harrass this girl, he's no better than a high school bully. What a F'in loser. Hopefully she will be able to turn it into some kind of lawsuit and get back at the idiot.
I have since updated the post, as the producer contacted me personally and pointed out something I clearly missed.
Habfan wrote:
I admit that there appears to be a disconnect there.. but in every case of any kind of 'mistaken' identity (which has happened more times than I can honestly believe) I have corrected the person myself and let them know that it is just a fun account... along with having (Not Real) in the name of the account.
NsOilFan wrote:
...So this "elaborate prank" was a guy posted comments on his Twitter to act like he was on a blind date...then acted like he was being a loser...then revealed it was just a "joke" and nothing even took place...then is now searching the internet to find people that are saying bad stuff about him?? I'm not sure if I think less of this guy now or before? It's sad when people like that can become successful. It's no surprise to me now that this is the guy that is partly responsible for that terrible show. God bless America I guess.
Another gotcha moment...
There is no scathing stories of him on any of those accounts.
My suggestion is....
Miltonred wrote:
Directed to who?
Don't make me point out that you have 7000 posts on a forum
You could add a Case 3 to this as well. As Sherri Sheppard from the view has filed a police report about a tweet directed to her about ****. She is looking at all legal options. While I am not a fan of Sherri Sheppard, I commend her for doing it. It's about time people are held accountable for what the write (tweet).
http://news-briefs.ew.com/2012/06/08/sherri-shepherd-twitter-bully/
That may be the case but none of them were about what someone I don't know did or did not do on an airplane. For sure they werent all heavy stuff, but none were so banal.
see this is the part of Twitter I think is stupid.
a guy who produces a TV show that has a large following and is behind the TV cameras.. does this sort of childish act with a woman who clearly didn't like him.
like Grow up and act like a man instead of a child.
these stars who use Twitter to attempt to destroy other's lives need to get a life.
the entire post above sounds just like something out of 'Entertainment Tonight' or something
A) Love the 'elitest' attitude. I guess threads about possible soccer transfers (of players I am certain you don't know) to other teams is far more fresh to you... but thanks for stopping by to let me know.
B) The age old "This thread is stupid and not worth me even posting" posts are never 'banal' as you so elegantly put it.
C) While you might think topics you follow... or comment on.. Like the fact that you don't think Russell Peters is funny... are worth posting... doesn't mean because I don't agree or care... that you shouldn't be allowed to post them.. Once again, why bother?
Booley wrote:
Just used two cases out of recent context that I was aware of, to point out the brutal side of twitter.
See above for the good ol "this topic is stupid, and doesn't even warrent a post by me " posts rebuttal
cflisthebest wrote:
Thanks for being the first response actually on topic (rather than telling me you don't care )
That's my point. Twitter is going one of two ways it seems. Either a great tool to be used as a source of breaking news... or the other.. which my post clearly points out.