FishbowlNY - Turning the Page For New York Media
Wednesday, Jun 24

Slate's Emily Bazelon Confronts Twitter Impersonator -- And Now They're Facebook Friends

fail_whale.jpgEmily Bazelon, Slate.com editor and founder of recently launched Double X, has an interesting way of dealing with people who impersonate you on Twitter: make them your Facebook friend.

Bazelon tells the story of how she dealt with her Twitter alter ego -- discovered a few months ago by colleage and Twitter phenom John Dickerson. First she attempted to go about it the "right" way, contacting the Twitter people and using the Washington Post's legal power. But what finally pushed her doppelganger to stop tweeting was a simple strategy: Bazelon started using her own Twitter account. First tweet: "Well turns out the way to make me twitter is to get an impersonator to prod me."

In the weeks that followed, Bazelon received an email from her Twitter impersonator, who turned out to be a male grad student in Ireland. They spoke on the phone. Then she made him her Facebook friend. It's not a typical ending to a stalker story, nor is it recommended for everyone, but in the new world of social media -- where impersonation can be mere flattery more than attack -- maybe we'll see more of this sort of thing happening.

As Bazelon sums up: "This is what social networking is supposed to be but rarely is, right? A haltingly warm one-on-one encounter between two people who would never have otherwise met. Twitter is the land of a million two-way streets. Now I follow my impersonator on it. And that, too, is a function of the new media map we’re just beginning to navigate."


new on mediabistro.com

The Future of Social Media with Chris Anderson

The editor of Wired explains how to create a social network that works.
Watch the video

Email This Post

Fill out the following information and click on the Send button in order to send this post, Slate's Emily Bazelon Confronts Twitter Impersonator -- And Now They're Facebook Friends, to a friend.
Friend's name
Friend's email address
Your name
Your email address
Note to your friend (optional, max 200 Characters)

Read more on FishbowlNY >

Turning the Page For New York Media
FishbowlNY in Your Inbox
Mobile Version
RSS Feed
Our Blog Network

BayNewser

WebNewser

TVNewser

PRNewser

MediaJobsDaily

GalleyCat

UnBeige

MobileContentToday

AgencySpy

FishbowlDC

FishbowlLA

FishbowlNY

FishbowlNY Staff
Editor:
Amanda Ernst

Contributing Editor:
Drew Grant

Columnist:
Diane Clehane

About FishbowlNY
Follow FishbowlNY
Email FishbowlNY

Anonymous Tips
Topics

About

About Us - Modules

Acquisitions

Advertising

Alternative Weeklies

AMC 2006

AMC 2007

AMC 2008

Awards

Beijing Olympics

Books

Bottom Feeding

Breaking News

Circulation

Daily Angle

Dissecting NPR

DNC '08

Election '08

Ellies '08

Fashion Week

Fishbowl Initiatives

FishbowlNY Poll

Inauguration '08

International

Keith Kelly Distilled

Legal Trouble

Lunch

Magazines

Markets & Media

Media Companies

Media Events

Media Lookbook

Media Minutiae

Media People

Mediabistro Circus

Memopad Distilled

Menu

Movies

New Media

News

Newspapers

NYT in 90 Seconds

Obituaries

Parties

Pop Culture

Radio

RNC '08

Scandals

Scholarly Pursuits

Strike Watch

SXSWi '08

The Crystal Ball

The Internet Presidency

The Revolving Door

The State of Journalism

Time 100

Trends

TV

Video

Archives

November 2009

October 2009

September 2009

August 2009

more...

Links

AdAge

Beet.tv

BusinessWeek | Fine on Media

Buzz Machine/Jarvis

The Colbert Report

The Corsair

Daily Show

Editor & Publisher

Ed2010

Folio:

Gawker

Gothamist

Guardian America | Media

HuffPo

IWantMedia

Marketwatch | Friedman

Mediaite

Mediapost

Media Wire Daily

NY Daily News

NY Mag | Daily Intelligencer

NY Observer | The Media Mob

NY Post | Keith Kelly

NYT | Media Decoder

The Onion

Paid Content

Poynter | Romenesko

Silicon Alley Insider

Slate | Jack Shafer

Wall Street Journal

WaPo | Media Notes

James Wolcott

WWD | Memo Pad

Job Listings

Featured Listings

Marketing Intern (4310)
Readers Digest
New York, NY

Editorial Intern (4309)
Readers Digest
New York, NY

Design Intern (4307)
Readers Digest
New York, NY

Advertising Sales Intern (4306)
Readers Digest
New York, NY

Upcoming

ADVERTISEMENT


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l PRNewser l AgencySpy
MobileContentToday l WebNewser l BayNewser l MediaJobsDaily l mbToolbox
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

internet.commediabistro.comJusttechjobs.comGraphics.com

Search:

WebMediaBrands Corporate Info

Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, Permissions, Privacy Policy.
Advertise | Newsletters | Shopping | E-mail Offers