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Tuesday: Twitterjacked?
posted at 2009-05-26 15:27 | Last modified 2009-05-26 16:06
While I was twittering tweeting today's Senate session, I noticed a new #NCGA Twitter feed, @SkipStam, listed as belonging to "Paul Stam." Except that it obviously doesn't belong to House GOP Leader Paul Stam.
Turns out @SkipStam was actually registered by the NC Democratic Party's online communications guru, Jerimee Richir, who was quick to 'fess up when I sent out a query.
"@LauraLeslie I registered the skipstam account on twitter to hold Stam accountable for his attacks on marginalized people #fessup. "
Hmmm. Fake tweeting or "twitterjacking" isn't illegal as far as I know, but is it really a good idea?
I asked Richir: "@Jerimee - is twitter impersonation ethical? Your "name" is listed as Paul Stam... #NCGA"
Richir's response: "@LauraLeslie Is making that kind of accusation ethical? Nobody is impersonating Stam. I'll change the name now."
My reply: "@Jerimee yes, I believe it is ethical to ask that question. Who wouldn't?"
Richir argued: @LauraLeslie "The question assumes guilt - @skipstam 's tweets are clearly not from Stam - they refer to him in 3rd person."
Okay, fair enough -- folks who are Twitter-ate could probably figure that out. Still, it's probably for the best that as of 3:15pm, the "name" listed on the @SkipStam Twitter feed is now "NotActuallySkipStam."
See what you're missing if you're not on Twitter?
Comments? Drop me a line.
