Mormon critic hijacks key Salt Lake Twitter account
flockwoodBoy, this is a scary story. Somebody got a hold of the password for a Twitter account at The Deseret News, a daily Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper that is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The hacker apparently changed the password to lock out the account’s true owners. Then he started posting anti-Mormon propaganda via Twitter.
Here’s the part that’s really, really scary. Once the paper discovered the problem, they tried to contact Twitter, but say nobody would return their messages. They tried to get real live people on the telephone. No dice. Officials in Salt Lake finally had to call in the lawyers and nearly filed a lawsuit before they were able to make contact with the Twitteroti.
This story resonates with me. I’ve discovered how difficult it can be to get real people on the phone (or to get problems solved) at these Internet-related businesses. Here’s exhibit A:
Back in 2001, in Virginia, I got a bundled package from a mega-corporation that was supposed to include internet access and a subscription to USA Today. But after a few months, the newspaper delivery stopped. I called the 800 numbers, talked to the customer service folks, etc. but it did no good. Still no paper. If it had been the New York Times, I might have pitched a fit, but it was McPaper and I was too busy to spend precious hours on hold fighting to get the newspaper restarted.
Soon it was 2002.
We moved to Kentucky and kept the bundled package, but asked megacorporation to send us a copy of USA Today to our new address. But it never arrived.
2003 passed. So did 2004.
Eventually (probably in about 2005), mega-corporation sent me a letter: “We’ve ended our partnership with USA Today. Your subscription to McPaper will be ending.” So I called them and asked: “Where’s my paper been for the last four years?”
“There was a glitch,” they explained. “We’ll get it fixed,” they promised. And I never heard from them again.
In 2006, I moved to Arkansas and canceled the Internet contract.
2007 passed. So did 2008. Fast forward to this year. That’s when I got a postcard from USA Today telling me, without explanation, that the papers I paid for in 2001 would finally start coming in June 2009.
So now, I’m getting USA TODAY. My subscription, they tells me, is paid through June 2011.
And no, they say, I can’t get a refund.
June 12th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Frank, your problem sounds like a class action in the making . . . if they did it to you, they no doubt did it to lots of other people, too.
As to the Mormons, though, I’d think that while the 140 character limit on Twitter might well give the anti-Mormons enough room to take a few potshots, if the Mormons tried to reply by twitter, they’d be doomed, cause every Mormon response (to anything) I’ve ever seen has FAR exceeded 140 characters.
As does this post, come to think of it. (488 characters unless you count the spaces, which make it 598) Which may explain why I don’t have a twitter account.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Caleb, this Mormon wonders how often you count characters in responses.
June 12th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
That’s because we realize, Caleb, that most important religious points cannot be truly discussed in “soundbites.”
(Dang, 143 characters!)
June 13th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Well, that’s true, David. The least little criticism produces reams of response, which I usually think is hilarious. But then I’m always the one accusing the evangelicals of bumper sticker theology, which goes to show that you just can’t please some people.
June 14th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
dang: you all have way to much time on your hands to be counting characters. I have grass that needs mowing come on over and I will put everyone to good use somewhere!
June 15th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I used the counter on my MS Word program. I don’t count well generally.