[LINK] Isn't one S.Conroy enough?

[Stilgherrian]

On 18/03/2009, at 6:18 PM, Eric Scheid wrote:
> Telstra wasn't the one whipping up a frenzy of intrigue regarding  
> the FSC
> identity, it was the twittersphere. The pressure came from there,  
> and then
> LN outed himself. That various social media people don't seem to be  
> taking
> any responsibility for their part in all this is galling.
>
> Would we so callously and irresponsibly seek to out an anonymous
> whistleblower as well, to only then lay all blame for the inevitable
> consequences at the feet of the employer?

Well said, Eric. I just posted a link to this on Twitter, and was  
surprised and pleased to see it ripple out in a few rapid retweets.  
Thousands of the relevant people have just seen it.

I'm compromised in this. While I seem to know Leslie Nassar well  
enough for him to have run some of his articles past me before filing,  
I was also subsequently writing about it for New Matilda. I felt like  
a hypocrite from an episode of "Frontline" -- the Australian  
mockumentary, not the "real" US PBS show. Nevertheless, in a piece  
posted just now at http://departmentofinternets.com/2009/a-few-thanks/  
Leslie does thank the media. "When I asked for space, you gave it to  
me. And when I said I couldn’t talk, you didn’t push. I am super,  
super grateful."

Three observations:

1. Leslie also told me that he'd received a "creepy" phone call at  
home asking about Conroy. He did not identify the caller, or say if he  
knew who it was. That was, apparently, a key factor in his decision to  
out himself -- though I don't wish to move focus away from Eric's  
point. It was the final straw, not the hay bale.

2. Leslie went to great lengths to ensure his role as FSC was kept  
well clear of Telstra. I hope Telstra has taken that into account.

3. While Eric's point is a good one, can we necessarily blame "the  
twittersphere" for individuals not understanding the implications of  
something which is, in many ways, totally new? While old-fogey Linkers  
might imagine this connected communications is all old hat, I reckon  
there's some aspects to the dynamics of Twitter which make it very  
different. The speed at which information, spreads is phenomenal --  
witness the "fisting" episode the other weekend. http://stilgherrian.com/human-nature/fisting-twitter/ 
  I'm not quite sure anyone has quite got their heads around that yet,  
at last in terms of the human impact.

We all have new social rules to learn. Some of them will be learnt the  
hard way.

Stil


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