While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to what you do – (or don’t) – post on Twitter, I think it would be a reasonable point of etiquette not to modify something someone has posted to suit your own view, and infer that the original person is responsible for the comment.
I struck a situation like this last night. It related to the ongoing drama involved with the resolution to who will govern Australia in minority, after the election this Saturday passed resulted in a hung parliament.
Mark Newton, a champion of the plight to de-rail the mandatory internet filtering plan for Australia – (which now appears to have succeeded) – made a comment regarding Greens Senator Scott Ludlam being a good choice to become Communications Minister in whatever form of parliament is negotiated into existence. Here is Mark’s tweet:
I completely agree with the thought, and feel that Senator Ludlam would be an excellent choice, given the foresight and level-headed thinking he has shown in this arena. I posted back to Mark in agreement with his sentinment here:
Sometime later, I noticed a “mention” of my twitter account against the following tweet:
As you can see, my previous tweet had been modified to promote one of those stupid – (yet often humourous) – Twitter accounts created to take the piss out of our politicians. A noble cause maybe, but trying to suggest that it was a comment that I had made, I find annoying.
I’m not pissed off, and there’s certainly nothing much I can do about it, even if I wanted to, but I thought it an interesting case of incorrect Twitter etiquette. Anyone reading the third tweet could be excused for thinking that the comment came from me, and in someway I endorse this particular Twitter account – which because I have nothing to do with it, I do not.
It raises the issue of who owns your tweets, and whether they can ultimately be “copyrighted”. The following article discusses that point rather well.
| Are Tweets Copyright-Protected? |
In the end, it raises questions that are difficult to answer in this “etiquette” situation. I don’t care that the person “liked” my tweet enough to reuse it – but would rather they take my name off it if they are going to modify it to suit their own ends.
That’s all.