CASE STUDY: The good side of Twitter

Demi Moore: movie star by day, lifesaving twittering hero by night.

Late Thursday, she received a frightening tweet from a woman named "sandieguy."

"I'm just wondering if anyone cares that I'm gonna kill myself now," she wrote to the star. Serious or not, her previous messages that hour—not directed at any one particular person—showed the Silicon Valley girl contemplating suicide and wavering on the decision.

Shortly thereafter, the girl messaged the Ghost actress again. "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn't waste time," she wrote.

Moore immediately replied, "Hope you are joking," sharing the scenario with her nearly 400,000 followers.

The brief exchange inspired several people to contact the authorities.

"At 4:37 this morning, the San Jose Police Department received a call from a citizen requesting that we check on the welfare of a 41-year-old female," San Jose Police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez tells E! News. "The caller indicated that she had been sending out messages on Twitter. Officers were sent to the address. There were no injuries but officers determined that the woman fit the criteria to be brought in for psychiatric evaluation, which she is currently undergoing."

\A few hours later, the celebrity tweeted a confirmation of the events' validity. "It is my understanding that the situation was not a joke and that through the collective efforts here, action was taken to provide help."

"It is true, but we are not making any statements about it," Moore's rep, Stephen Huvane, tells E! News. "This woman's privacy and well-being is the most important thing here."

Moore and Kutcher have been among the celebs constantly creating news by their frequent liveblogging via Twitter, sharing with fans and media alike their marriage advice, Oscar parties and drama with neighbors. This, however, was a first.

Source: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b107568_demi_moore_twitter_save_lives.html 

CASE STUDY: The ugly side of Twitter

New York Jets Wide Receiver David Clowney joined a new support group recently. The “no-I-didn’t-say-that-on-Twitter-what-do-you-think-I’m-nuts?” club.

Clowney and a growing number of celebrities, politicians, and other high profile individuals have had their Twitter accounts compromised, only to have the hacker send out humiliating tweets to the online world.

Clowney’s Twitter account hack has been one of the worst so far with the attacker going on for hours, swearing at and insulting bewildered fans. Other notable hack attacks include the Fox News Twitter account, where comments about Bill O’Riley’s sexuality popped up, and the Britney Spears Twitter feed, where the assailant posted extremely distasteful remarks about the pop superstar, as well as references to Satanic worship. CNN’s Rick Sanchez, President Barack Obama, and The Huffington Post have all had their tweets hijacked too with disturbing results.

The majority of Twitter account hackings occurred back on January 5, when 33 tweeters had their accounts put into lock-down phase after Twitter discovered an infiltration. The company released a statement on the Twitter Blog, saying the hacker had “hacked into some of the tools our support team uses to help people do things like edit the email address associated with their Twitter account when they can’t remember or get stuck.” Twitter responded by moving the support tools offline for a period. Additionally, Twitter officials claimed they were undertaking a “full security review of all access points” at the time determine the problem, while increasing sign-in security.

Currently, the company is working on a beta version of Twitter Verified Accounts – a method of determining the authenticity of users who establish Twitter accounts. In other words, making sure Britney Spears or an official agent of Britney Spears is setting up the Britney Spears Twitter account. However, this system doesn’t address who is writing the tweets on each account.

Source: http://www.reputation.com/blog/2009/11/

Interesting facts about Twitter

1.New York has the most Twitter profiles.
2.At least half of all tweets are created using tools or mobile devices instead of logging into Twitter.com
3.More than 70% of all Twitter accounts were created in the first half of 2009
4.About 20% of all Twitter accounts are blank
5.Slightly more than half of Twitter users are female

source: http://www.authorityseo.com/2009/07/06/9-interesting-facts-about-twitter/#

Cyber Wellness Tips for Twitter

1.Do not disclose personal information on Twitter.
2.Practice selective disclosure
3.Use an identity that does not reveal your gender and age
4.Do tweet about your location and/or where you might be going.
5.Do not meet up with cyber friends.

Dangers of Twitter

1. Advertisers may send you spam
2.People can see personal information about you when they visit your account.(that is if you're not careful)
3.Online predators may follow your tweets.
4.You may tweet something offensive
5.Cyber bullies may tweet bad stuff about you

Inspirational use of Twitter

1.Able to greet people on their birthdays/Christmas/etc.
2.Able to congratulate others on their success.
3.Able to cheer people up.
4.Be informed of their latest update about how they feel/etc.
5.Able to socialise