Michael Dell’s daughter banned from Twitter for unfiltered postings

Photo Source: Oracle PR (CC BY)

Michael Dell, founder of computer company Dell Inc. pays about $2.7 million/year for his family’s security, according to his company’s filings. However, how effective are Michael’s efforts at security? Forbes reports that Michael has now allegedly shut down daughter Alexa’s Twitter after she posted a photo to her Instagram profile of her younger brother enjoying a generous spread on their family jet. This photo also eventually found its way onto the “Rich Kids of Instagram” Tumblr. Alexa, 18, also willingly shared details of her life on that same Twitter account, speaking of her exact GPS-pinpointed locations in say, Fiji and New York, as well details about her high school graduation dinner that very nicely stated the date, place and time Michael Dell and his wife would be in attendance in just a few weeks time. With her father willing to spend so much money on security, and Alexa freely sharing on her channels of social networking, where was the disconnect?

Dell officials have refused to comment on whether or not the shut down of Alexa’s Twitter account was because of safety concerns. But whether or not that is the case, Jason Thorsett, director of operations at bodyguard firm Custom Protective Services acknowledges the difficulties the personal security industry has faced with the rise of social media.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram—we use and love all of these social networking tools because of how instantaneous they are; how accurately they are able to provide a quick snapshot into real life. However, could this exact characteristic be our downfall?

Know the risks. Location-based social networks and geotagging allow any viewer of your social media profiles to know exactly where you are at that moment. And while being able to outlet your every thought and emotion on Twitter as a mini-diary can appear attractive, the more information about your personal life readily available online means you are all the more susceptible to cyberstalking.

Danah Boyd, Senior Researcher at Microsoft researcher does not deny the fact that social media is here to stay. She warns of the  “illusion of anonymity”;  how “there are lurkers who are present at the moment but whom we cannot see.” This is a concept that most of us too easily forget in sharing every detail of our days.

Most people wouldn’t post a photo to Instagram without adding a filter to it first. Why is it then that we so readily broadcast our lives without filters?