The rise of ‘vigilante tweeting’—careful what you say

When you’re that person’s captive—say, because you’re on a packed bus or train with no other available seats—you might even harbor fantasies of exacting some sort of well-deserved revenge.

Well, some people are getting revenge by publishing the details of their loudmouth neighbors’ “private conversations” to their Twitter feeds and other social networks.

Call it “vigilante tweeting.”

Let’s say I’m seated next to a loudmouth attorney on a bus one morning, and he won’t shut up about his latest case. As I’m still wiping the sleep from my eyes trying to have a quiet start to my morning, he’s shouting about his strategy to beat the defendant. I could punish the attorney’s lack of discretion by sending out a “vigilante tweet” containing the lawyer’s name and the details of the case he revealed on the phone.

To be clear, I haven’t done this before (although it’s tempting). But others have.