Twitter: A Powerful Communication Tool with a Dark Side (1st in a Series)

Twitter has gone so mainstream so fast, it is hard to keep up.  Just how fast has Twitter spread?  In 1H 2009, Twitter reached almost 11% of all active internet users, and more than 15% of adult internet users in the US will access it by next year; interestingly, most of this growth is being fueled by those over the age of 25.  Considering the fact Twitter did not exist until 2006, this is nothing short of astonishing.

Why is Twitter so popular?  Think of Twitter as email or IM on steroids in that thoughts, ideas and commentary can be conveyed instantly with a very wide audience (some Twitterers, like Ashton Kutcher, have millions of followers).  Read an interesting book?  You can Tweet about it from your laptop.  See a great movie?  Tweet about it from your iPhone.  Attend a terrific panel session at the Masters Conference?  Tweet about it from your iPhone, Blackberry or laptop (shameless plug – my apologies for that).

But as with many things, that which makes Twitter so powerful and popular also makes it potentially very, very dangerous and fraught with information risk.  First, Twitter’s speed and breadth amplify communication velocity – which can be good when the content being communicated is appropriate and important, and bad (in some cases very bad) when the content is misleading, inaccurate, proprietary or fraudulent.  Second, Twitter is not the most secure form of communication; Tweets and even Twitter accounts can be co-opted or faked, which can lead to all sorts of unintended consequences (just ask Tony LaRussa).  Third, because it is so fast, Twitter lends itself to rapid communication that is often not reviewed – for accuracy, spelling, etc. – or otherwise proofread in many cases.  And finally, because the length of each Tweet is limited to no more than 140 characters it is often difficult to convey context or exact meaning in a Tweet, which leaves interpretation to the mind of the follower (or millions of followers) – whose motives may be highly suspect.

In the next installment we will delve more deeply into the potential legal ramifications of Twitter, as the Twitter rage is far from over…