She calls on us to stop tweeting people's 'private' conversations.
"Privacy" (and the right thereto) has a foundational requirement, a prerequisite if you will, that you be in a location where you would have a 'reasonable expectation of privacy'.
Initially, this stemmed from the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution, protecting you from unreasonable search and seizure – specifically, Katz v. United States held that if a person goes into a phone booth, closes the door behind them, and makes a call, they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, and a recording device stuck to the outside of the glass violates that person's 4th Amendment rights if it has been done without a search warrant.
Since 1967, the guiding principle of 'reasonable expectation of privacy' has been applied to many, many things, up to and including the SCOTUS decision (rather, inaction on a 7th circuit court decision) this time last year that upheld the public (YOUR) right to record police carrying out their public service duties (so long as there is no interference with the carrying out of those duties in the process)
Every example given in the article and every complaint that the author raises is completely and utterly invalidated by the fact that the conversations and actions (including the rooftop fight) took place IN PUBLIC where you have absolutely zero expectation of privacy, much less any sort of 'reasonable expectation' to privacy.
In addition, when it comes to Elan Gale, he wasn't even tweeting about third parties – he was tweeting about actions and conversations that he was directly and personally involved in, so when Nisha Chittal bases her argument on Elan Gale's actions, she is basically saying what amounts to, "HEY, YOU. DON'T TWEET ABOUT INTERESTING THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO YOU! GO BACK TO DESCRIBING YOUR LUNCH! KTHX"
The takeaway is this:
When you're in public, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy, and to suggest that people are tweeting "private" conversations about "private" lives is utter foolishness.
Reshared post from +Dusty Monk
When I first read about Elan Gale's live tweet ambush on fellow airline passenger, I didn't find it humorous. I just mostly found it sickening. I know how easily it could have been me on the other side of that tweet fest. And this is definitely a trend that only seems to be growing. So please, ftlog, cut it out. Go get your fame by doing stupid things on YouTube, if you must.
Please stop live tweeting people’s private conversations
By now you’re probably familiar with Elan Gale, who became internet-famous on Thanksgiving Day for live-tweeting his int…
Agree with you 100% +Jonathon Barton
And I'll add that part of this is a selfish / isolationist mentality that has developed in our society — a belief that anyone who you don't "know" in a public situation is irrelevant and can be ignored since they are of no importance to you..
Guess what, folks? There is no metaphorical cone of silence around you in public. When you talk loudly on a cell phone, or to the person next to you, or to the service person waiting on you — everyone else can hear you! (Shocking — I know.) And they are under no obligation to keep what you said a secret!
Solution: Don't say anything you wouldn't want someone to repeat to your mother, your significant other or your deity. ;-D
Welcome to our new world village
I agree with +Jonathon Barton and +Mario Gutierrez completely. We all live in glass houses, anyway.
Well, maybe YOU do, +Eve Sullivan, with your very loverly house up in the piney forests…
Me? I live in a bunker.
'ftlog'…lmfao that's the first time I've seen that one….otherwise I completely agree with +Dusty Monk it should have been done all as a YouTube video lol!
I know that's not what he or the article meant, bit maybe that will push the point of how it invades our space when we have to listen or deal with crap like elan gale had to…its not a new world just new tools to fight back against ignorance of others around you…he had ever right to tweet and post everything about that altercation he had…..
Who cares what some dot head purveyor of affirmative action for minorities has to say.
I would agree with you 100% that the conversation between Elan Gale and Diane was a public conversation, not a private conversation, except for one teeny issue – as it turns out, Diane doesn't exist. Elan made her up, and posted a picture of an empty chair.
Of course, that gets into a whole other issue…
+John E. Bredehoft +Nisha Chittal used several other (real) examples highlighting the (non) point in the article, as well.