When Tweeting goes wrong...

It's a well known fact that online social networking sites can exert a surprising amount of influence in the real world; recruiters warn against posting drunken photos on Facebook, or claiming to be sick at the same time as telling virtual friends of the effects of the booze binge the previous night. The lack of privacy inherent in posting such information online means that control over who exactly sees it can never really be guaranteed.

Twitter is a shining example of this process in action; whilst seemingly innocuous, a message of 140 characters or less can wield surprising power. This is a good example; Doncaster man Paul Chambers was convicted of sending a menacing electronic communication back in May and has just lost his subsequent appeal. His crime? Tweeting to his followers that "Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week... otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!" He now faces a legal bill of around £3,000, a sum actor Stephen Fry has offered - via Twitter, of coure - to meet.

Elsewhere, a Tory councillor in Birmingham has been arrested after announcing via Twitter:"Could someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan't tell Amnesty if you don't. It would be a blessing, really." Gareth Compton has been suspended indefinitely by the Conservative party and is now on bail pending investigation.

So what can we learn from these two examples? That free speech has its limits? That 'Big Brother' really is watching us all? Or that the unwritten rules that decide whether something is socially acceptable or not apply just as much on the internet as they do back in the real world? It's certainly something to ponder next time your finger hovers over the 'send' key...