- Joined
- Apr 7, 2005
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- 7,632
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- London, UK
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- torgoblog.blogspot.com
This kind of comes back to a point I think someone else made: Should minors be allowed to distribute their personal information to hundreds of thousands of people in the first place?
Because making it the responsibility of the messenger to remove it relies on much more generosity than the average person has. Mind you, that wouldn't actually make it hard for someone to connect the tweet to the person who posted it. A quick copy and paste (even of a portion if the tweet) will once again bring you to the individual's name, location and photo.
Dunno about the whole issue of what minors ought to be able to say - I mean, I think in general the less regulation of speech the better - but it concerns me that kids are welcomed in to social networks as young as 13 (officially; Facebook is the most popular site for kids 7-12, supposedly before they can sign up.)
If you're not paying for a service like Facebook or Twitter, then you are the product. Your data and its value to advertisers is what keeps Facebook afloat; FB is particularly promiscuous about sharing by default, at least last time I checked (the constant changes don't help keep a grip on it), and though they do restrict a good deal of info to friends if you're 13-17, there's a lot flying about. I am certainly concerned that teens on Facebook are giving away more than they realize or that they (or their parents) might be comfortable with.
All that aside, if you have picked up and are posting personal info about a minor online without consent, that's terrible behaviour. I can see an argument for highlighting the content of a racist tweet or update in order to make a point, but then as you say a quick search of Twitter brings up the kid who said it.
Adults, in all this, are fair game, I think. Your responsibility as an adult to own your words, and if you want to be anonymous to avoid the Twitchfork mobs, your responsibility to carefully protect your anonymity.