Courtney Love is being sued by a fashion designer for allegedly criticizing her on Twitter. Among other things, Love apparently tweeted that the designer had a history of cocaine use.

Smart.

Just because the medium may be novel, defamation can still be shown in such cases. Despite that, observers are still trying to sort out [...]]]>

Courtney Love is being sued by a fashion designer for allegedly criticizing her on Twitter. Among other things, Love apparently tweeted that the designer had a history of cocaine use.

Smart.

Just because the medium may be novel, defamation can still be shown in such cases. Despite that, observers are still trying to sort out the ramifications of social media liability–

Legal experts say such Internet-related cases are being watched closely because they confront new and unaddressed areas of American law.For example, how should a libel case be handled when it comes to social media? How can society balance accountability with free speech? And if information — from private thoughts to public data — is so readily available, how do we define what constitutes privacy?

Privacy? It seems disingenuous to suggest that Love expected privacy when she tweeted about her designer’s supposed drug habit. After all, you can always make your Twitter account private, and Love apparently chose not to do so. In cases like this, it’s pretty clear that the purpose of using social media was, indeed, to distribute the message to as broad an audience as possible.

via Can the law keep up with technology? – CNN.com.

Employers are increasingly turning to social networks in order to screen potential hires:

According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45 percent of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates — more than double from a year earlier, when a similar survey found that just 22 percent [...]]]>

Employers are increasingly turning to social networks in order to screen potential hires:

According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45 percent of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates — more than double from a year earlier, when a similar survey found that just 22 percent of supervisors were researching potential hires on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The study, which questioned 2,667 managers and human resource personnel, found that 35 percent of employers decided not to offer a job to a candidate based on the content uncovered on a social networking site.

While the OMG-privacy crowd will likely gasp at this turn of developments, I have to ask: so what? Let’s say we were living before the dawn of online social networks. You approach me for a job. If I learned from word of mouth that you had gotten hammered at each of your previous holiday parties, would I reject you as a candidate? Maybe, but probably not. If, however, I learned from a mutual acquaintance that you tend to spend an exorbitant amount of time criticizing your previous employers, I would almost certainly pass on you.

Isn’t this just common sense? Reputation counts, and the things we do or say matter– just as much online as off. Many social networking sites now offer granular privacy settings, so you can still accept that recruiter’s friend request without having to delete your content.

via More Employers Use Social Networks to Check Out Applicants – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com.