Some lady tweeted that her apartment building or hotel was fucking crappy and now they are suing her for $50,000! Defamation baby! So does that mean Lori Beth Denberg can sue me? Yes, I STILL get fucking comments from people bitching about how I said she was irrelevant dead and obese. They are people that just google her name and this blog comes up. If she were actually relevant this fucking itty bitty website wouldn’t be one of the first hits on google.I obviously just say things that are malicious for no reason other than to be hateful sometimes. /Shrug, you all like it, so you’re fucked up too.
Anyway here’s the tweet.
Now, while I do agree we are all a bit too exposed, meanwhile I happily expose myself on twitter, I think this is a bit of a reach, right? She had 20 followers, one of them being Horizon Group Management apparently. So assuming there isn’t more to this story, they saw the tweet and decided to sue, do you think they have grounds?
Horizon’s Jeffrey Michael is quoted in the Sun-Times as saying “The statements are obviously false, and it’s our intention to prove that”, adding that Horizon has a good reputation to protect. Bonnen wasn’t contacted before the suit was filed or asked to remove the Tweet, he said: “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization”.
We all know how public the things we say are, right? Or at least we think we know. Anyone can find this blog, anyone I know or don’t know can read it. I take that chance and there hasn’t really been any repercussions. And no I wouldn’t introduce myself with this blog, I know I say HIGHLARIOUS awful things on it, not that I am ashamed of it, but these posts should be taken with a grain of salt. That salt is a lot harder to take when you don’t know anything about the person saying the words.
Anyway, this thing opens the debate as to what twitter actually is. This, Maggots and Tenderloin, is a blog. Blogs have been given a lot of weight and a lot of credence (for some reason) whether they are shitty or not and even with this small following, it’s still a following and so, as carelessly as I say the words faggot and nigger because *I* think I can get away with it, the fact that I even think I am getting away with something implies that I acknowledge that I am doing something I shouldn’t. What I mean is, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone thought I was a bigot and since blogging is considered publishing, this would be considered spreading some sort of propagandas bigotry or what the fuck ever.
Twitter was introduced as a new kind of blogging and lots of bloggers left the “blogosphere” and took to twitter or tumblr because it was easier they didn’t actually have to write anything, you know they could just link shit, even though they’re supposed to be writers.
As public as twitter is, I wouldn’t consider it publishing even though tons of businesses use it professionally. Twitter for the most part is used amongst your circle of friends even though almost anyone can see it, unless your account is private. It’s borderline texting, except it’s texting made public. That brings us to the question, if something you say is made public with your consent, can it be held against you legally? Now we have all kinds of exceptions if something is printed as gossip or parody or even a criticism you can get away with it.
But when you say something nasty and unwarranted as a truth on the Internet can it be held against you? How serious are we supposed to take each other on the vast Internet seas? If someone spreads a rumor about you on a forum can you sue? It all seems silly and the Internet just feels like a free for all. Any laws set here feel like a slippery slope and all laws are already open for interpretation especially for something as tricky as slander and libel.
So, we’ll just wait and see.
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All this lady does is complain btw.
Wah!
i think that what twitter is, is essentially screaming your opinion in a large crowded room, or better yet, stadium. If somebody replies agreeing with you, you begin a short, shitty conversation. Most of the people in the “stadium” of twitter will not listen, or hear your opinion. Everyone is entitled to it. For example, if you decided to stand on a platform in times square and scream out that time warner cable is such bullshit, you probably will not get sued. Im thinking that the case is just gonna be thrown out on the justification of the first amendment. But afterwards she is probably gonna lose her apartment. She needs to hit the craigslist.