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You are here: News > News > Breaking News: Twittering Could Get You Burglarized
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| » 10 June 2009 |
| Breaking News: Twittering Could Get You Burglarized |
| An Arizona-based Twitter user informed his followers that he was going out of town, leaving his home unoccupied. Apparently, one of them (or anyone else who incidentally browsed his tweets) just happened to be a nearby burglar. A burglary ensues; guess whose house was robbed? Israel Hyman, the Twitter user who was burglarized, believes that it was his tweets about his out-of-town getaway that tipped off the burglar who ultimately ransacked his Arizona residence while he was vacationing. Granted, he needs a lot more evidence than that to prove his allegations, but the circumstantial evidence that is present is compelling enough in its own right. Unfortunately, Hyman has over an estimated 2,000 followers on his account, so it's a little hard for him to narrow down a suspect. He posted that he and his wife were getting ready to head out of town in one post, added that it'll take 10 more hours of driving before they could reach their destination on another post, and then later announced that they've arrived in Kansas City in the following post. These tweets practically served as a "Hey, to any robbers near our area! This is your chance! We're not in our house at the moment!" banner for the burglars following Hyman's Twitter updates. Once Hyman and his wife arrived back to Arizona, the couple discovered that someone had broken into their house and stolen thousands of dollars worth of video equipment that Hyman uses for his IzzyVideo.com video business (which he partly promotes via his Twitter account). In an interview with the Associated Press, Hyman confessed that his wife thinks that the whole incident was just a coincidence. However, he maintains that his suspicions have merit. For one thing, the robbers didn't bother stealing any of the pair's normal consumer electronics. In any case, it's quite obvious that what Hyman did—advertising his vacation to the world and the fact that his residence will be unguarded for a lengthy period of time—is negligent, foolish, and a bad idea all-in-all. Even though there are real threats and hazards lurking behind technology's progress, this case was as equally caused by bad decision-making on Hyman's part at it was by the detriments of modern innovations. Under different circumstances, this cautionary tale about the downsides of technology might have become the next urban legend to spread across our inboxes. Whether the impending social networking paranoia it will sooner or later cause is warranted remains to be seen. |
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