Think before you tweet

It’s so easy to make a status update on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook that many of us do it without really thinking about it. Whilst this is okay for general status updates or tweeting about that delicious sub that you had for lunch, it can be problematic when you write a badly timed joke or something that you may think is harmless fun but actually has great consequences.

This week the internet learned of a teenage girl in the Netherlands that for some reason though it would be a good idea to tweet a terrorist threat to one of America’s biggest Airlines. Whilst I’m pretty sure Sarah or (@QueenDemetriax_) as she is known on Twitter had no idea of the seriousness of her actions, she must have known that this wasn’t going to end well? Shortly after receiving the tweets American Airlines responded to her pointing out the seriousness of the threat and informed her that they would be passing her details on to the FBI.

Upon receiving the message from American Airlines it seems that Sarah quickly realised the seriousness of her actions and began to plead with the Airline to not take the matter any further stating that she was just a girl and not from Afghanistan or a member of “Al qaida”. The initial message from American Airlines claimed that they had Sarah’s IP address and that they would be passing this onto the FBI, something which isn’t actually within the power of American Airlines. A Twitter spokesman later confirmed that the Airline didn’t have access to the IP or other details of the girl and that only a law enforcement agency could request such information from Twitter.

Sarah was arrested following the incident by Police in Rotterdam and investigations are still ongoing. I sincerely hope that this incident is a warning to others about the serious implications that can happen as a result of what we say on social networks. If you're unsure if the tweet you are about to send is inappropriate or likely to cause any repercussions the safest and most sensible thing to do is not post it.

Back in February there was a video uploaded to Geekanoids titled ‘think before you tweet’ which although it talks about businesses and banks looking at your Twitter account before making a decision on offering a loan or employment, it still hammers home the importance of thinking before you tweet so I have included the video below for reference.

Secret 'Twitter garden' reveals itself when you tweet

It's always good to stop and smell the roses, but sometimes you have to tweet to access them.

At least that's how it works with an interactive Internet-connected garden created by the U.K.'s University of Lincoln. Familiar plants greet onlookers, but when they tweet using a specific hashtag, electronic paneled screens dividing the plot into two distinct areas shift to reveal an area containing more exotic foliage.

The garden, called "Digital Capabilities," just won a gold medal at this year's prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which runs through Saturday. But its architects hope to keep it up and blooming as a permanent installation...

Read the full story here. Source: CNET

Twitter Killing TweetDeck for iPhone and Android

Twitter will shut down multiple TweetDeck apps to focus on the product's web-based version, the microblogging service announced Monday.

In yet another sign of the battle between social media's two biggest players, Facebook integration will be removed, too.

The announcement was met largely with a chorus of "nooooooooo," "whyyyyyyy" and "gaaaaaaaah" on social media, reflecting TweetDeck's widespread popularity with hardcore Twitter users.

TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for iPhone and TweetDeck for Android will be removed from their respective app stores in May, and stop working soon after, according to a TweetDeck blog post.

"To continue to offer a great product that addresses your unique needs, we’re going to focus our development efforts on our modern, web-based versions of TweetDeck," the post says.

TweetDeck is a well-regarded Twitter client that the microblogging network bought in 2011.

Moving forward, TweetDeck's web and Chrome apps will be the first that Twitter enhances with updates and new features, while the Mac and PC apps will continue to evolve as well.

Your final couple months using TweetDeck's AIR, Android and iPhoneversions may not be smooth sailing, either. Those apps will continue to rely on version one of Twitter's API, which will be retired this month. Blackout testing on version one begins March 5, so mobile TweetDeck users will likely begin experiencing outages with their apps on Tuesday.

"In many ways, doubling down on the TweetDeck web experience and discontinuing our app support is a reflection of where our TweetDeck power-users are going," the post reads before later adding: "And for those of you who are inconvenienced by this shift, our sincere apologies."

Is this a pain, or not such a big deal? Give us your take in the comments.

Photo courtesy Flickr, Andy Miah

[Source: Mashable]