Figure impersonating has been a serious problem wondering in the world of social networking sites, sites like Facebook and Twitter. According to Simon Owens, public figures such as Dalai Lama, Shaquille O’Neal, Lance Amstrong and Miley Cyrus are reported to have fake imposters on Twitter. (2009) Pop singers like Beyonce was found impersonated in Twitter as well after sister Solange who is a consistent Twitter user that engaged with Beyonce’s imposter numerous times. (Radar 2009)
Based on report from TechCrunch, the amount of Twitter users is growing rapidly day by day since the site was developed in 2006. (Wauters 2010) When the amount of users increase in the site, the credibility of it tend to go indirectly proportional. TechnologyReview.com reviewed that Twitter was rated as one of the lowest sites in terms of believability and credibility. (Mims 2010) Warranting is a term that every social network websites would need obey to gain trust from public, but it seems that Twitter is totally lost when talking about warranting. (Mims 2010) For instance, being followed by a celebrity doesn’t determine the fans’ thoughts on that individual. (Mims 2010)
To overcome impersonating issues, a new system was introduced by Twitter by adding a seal to the top right of the profile to certify the validity of the users, and this system is more to high profile users such as politicians, celebrities and other public figures. (Callari 2009) This will help basic users to identify the true identity of people they follow, especially public figures. What people should do when being impersonated is to should report it by sending relevant information to the Trademark LCA admin, according to the Social Media Governance. (Boudreaux 2010) This will ease the social site to work on the issue and tracking process to be carried out.
Like what done by Kanye West when he got impersonated on Twitter. The rapper informed the site regarding the problem and the imposter’s account was removed the next day. (Stuff.co.nz 2009) West stated on his blog that he is always busy and barely have time for his website, Twitter will not do much on developing his career. (Binside 2009) He claimed that Twitter failed to deliver a responsible attitude when they know he doesn’t own an account but still allowing the imposter to go on. (Binside 2009)
In conclusion, rights of public figures should always be protected. Thou fans are crazily admiring their idols but impersonating them is not the way to show it. This will only bring massive negative effects to the celebrities and bring no benefits to them. Thus while hanging around in social networking sites, everyone should be careful and able to think rationally.
Reference List:
Owens, S. 2009, 'How Celebrity Imposters Hurt Twitter's Credibility,' 20 February, viewed 8 November 2010 < http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/02/how-celebrity-imposters-hurt-twitters-credibility051.html >
Radar. 2009, 'Beyonce Knowles: Twitter Impostors,' 15 April, viewed 8 November 2010 < http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/04/beyonce-knowles-twitter-impostors-beware >
Wauters, R. 2010, 'Twitter Growth: Happening All Over The Globe (Graphs),' TechCrunch, 23 June, viewed 8 November 2010 < http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/23/twitter-international-growth/ >
Mims, C. 2010, 'Twitter's Credibility Problem,' Technology Review, 29 September, viewed 8 November 2010 < http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/25791/ >
Callari, R. 2009, 'Twitter's Landmark Tweet Against Impostors,' viewed 8 November 2010 < http://inventorspot.com/articles/twitters_landmark_tweet_against_imposters_33285 >
Boudreaux, C. 2010, 'Tweeting Guidelines,' Social Media Governance, viewed 8 November 2010 < http://socialmediagovernance.com/MSFT_Social_Media_Policy.pdf >
Stuff.co.nz 2009, 'Kanye West hates Twitter impostors,' 14 May, viewed 8 November 2010 < http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/2411222/Kanye-West-hates-Twitter-impostors >
Binside 2009, 'Kanye West Blasts Fake Twitter Account Imposters,' viewed 8 November 2010 < http://binside.typepad.com/binside_tv/2009/05/kanye-west-blasts-fake-twitter-account-imposters.html >
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