I posted yesterday about new U.S. legislation that would ban anonymous online commenting. As I think about Twitter, I realize that in its simplicity, it is somewhat opaque, and is one of the few places that actually permits anonymous posting.
It's difficult and sometimes impossible to tell the affiliations of those posting, and therefore their biases, without clicking on their profiles. And even then, some profiles are incomplete.
This is easy to solve with a couple of non-invasive feature updates as follows:
- Add to Twitter Terms of Service: "If your use of Twitter is in any way associated with your profession, and/or you post on topics related to your work, you most fully disclose your professional affiliations in your profile, and comply with all state, federal, and international laws prohibiting anonymous posting."
- Add feature to Twitter interface to display profile text of all parties with mouseover on tweet
Providers have an obligation to get ahead of emerging legal and ethical trends in social media, instead of waiting for a user revolt or a lawsuit.
Tags: Social Media Law, transparency, twitter, ethics, astroturfing
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