NYCC Sent Promo Tweets From Attendees' Twitter Accounts

[roseofbattle]

NYCC Sent Promo Tweets From Attendees' Twitter Accounts

<tweet t="https://twitter.com/NY_Comic_Con/status/388667391024300032" align=right>New York Comic Con spread excitement for the convention via pre-written tweets and sent them from attendees' Twitter accounts.

When the doors opened at New York Comic Con yesterday, many attendees found tweets about the convention had been posted on their account without their knowledge. Attendees had authorized NYCC to send tweets on their behalf when they had completed the online registration with their Twitter account. Today NYCC organizers tweeted they will no longer automatically post promotional tweets from attendees' accounts.

In an unapologetic tweet, NYCC organizers told attendees, "FYI - do not fret if #NYCC-ID tweeted as you yesterday! We shut this opt-in feature off so it won't happen anymore. Have a blast at NYCC!"

This was the first year NYCC used RFID-enabled convention badges, which allows systems with a wireless "tag" to be read from a distance. The new badge system is supposed to help NYCC staff in verifying badges and reduce the number of counterfeit badges. When entering or exiting the building, attendees scan their RFID-enabled badge. Because the badge is linked to a social media account used for online registration, NYCC used attendees' social media accounts to post on attendees' behalf. Each NYCC promotional tweet included a NYCC hashtag and a link to the event's Facebook page. Examples of promotional tweets include "So much pop culture to digest! Can't. handle. the. awesome. #NYCC," "I can't get enough #NYCC!" and "So much to see, so much to do! #NYCC 2013 I love you!"

A representative released a statement to Polygon and said, "As you may have seen yesterday, there were some posts to Twitter and Facebook issued by New York Comic Con on behalf of attendees after RFID badges were registered. This was an opt-in function after signing in, but we were probably too enthusiastic in our messaging and eagerness to spread the good word about NYCC. We have since shut down this service completely and apologize for any perceived overstep. Please accept our apologies and have an absolutely excellent time this weekend."

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/11/4827644/new-york-comic-con-stops-hijacking-attendees-tweets-organizers]


Permalink

 

[Rainforce]

ah..............................PRIVACY.
So they really did collect all the passwords in plain text, huh?
Quite the move. That's all I can say.

 

[Rainforce]

- Give company permission to post via your social media page
- Get pissed when they actually do

I swear, some people are so goddamn stupid.

Have you seen the registration form? (because I have not)

Attendees had authorized NYCC to send tweets on their behalf when they had completed the online registration with their Twitter account.

this actually sounds like one of those tick boxes that are on by default at best, and like "by registering you agree that we are allowed to do this"-smallprint at worst.

 

[ffs-dontcare]

Yeah, that's definitely going too far for me. As someone who intensely loathes being told what to say, the idea of some organization or company posting their advertising via my social media accounts is incredibly aggravating.

I also do not enjoy the prospect of other people speaking for me (at least, without my permission and direction) so if I were to attend such an event, I most definitely would not word my statements as "I can't get enough!", "So much pop culture to digest!", or "Can't. handle. the. awesome." - in fact, I tend to be a lot more reserved in how I word things and posting in such an excitable/enthusiastic way is something I would never do. In fact, my friends/family/acquaintances would immediately know something is off if I ever used the term "pop culture" for any reason other than irony/sarcasm.

Also, I never use any hashtags whatsoever, so if any entity were to post hashtags under my name instead of under their own, I would be pretty pissed off. Nobody's allowed to hijack my identity for their own marketing (or any other reason, really), even if it's a temporary measure.

And I'd be very wary if an entity even tried to get permission from me to do so. That they even would try in the first place is despicable enough.

 

[Rainforce]

Yes, and my point is that people are too stupid to realise that they're allowing their privacy to be violated.

Alright, you have a point there. Still leaves the question who's worse. The stupid, or the abusive people?

 

[Weaver]

ah..............................PRIVACY.
So they really did collect all the passwords in plain text, huh?
Quite the move. That's all I can say.

I actually work as a software developer developing a twitter application that has the ability to post on behalf of users.
The information is NOT stored in plain text. Twitter does not even allow you to post on behalf of users with with their passwords, or give you a way to collect them.

It uses a system called OAUTH in which you, basically, do a security dance with twitter and end up with a private token you can use to perform select actions on behalf of that user. If the user wants, they can revoke this token at any time.

 

[Andy Shandy]

On the one hand, it says quite clearly when you authorize the app that's used that they can post tweets for you. It's not like it's hidden in the fine print, so the "Oh no, my privacy" stuff I've seen about it in places is ridiculous.

On the other hand, it just seems so...sleazy and wrong to be doing stuff like this. So I can't root for anyone in this.

 

[soren7550]

From what I can remember of the registration, it was one of those "say yes to this thing, or you don't get to register" sort of deals.

I could be wrong though.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I'm not fond of Twitter, so correct me if I'm wrong: The whole post-tweets-for-you thing aside, isn't attempting to post "in character" as the account owner rather sleazy? Most promo tweets I've seen read like promo tweets: "I just got X Y and Z by visiting URL" kind of obvious junk that are the same across all accounts. The attempt to mask that fact is suspect.