Journos: To tweet or not to tweet?

Interesting story from Silicon Angle, about the Washington Posts’s new policy for social media use by staffers.

Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything—including photographs or video—that could be perceived as reflecting political, racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility. This same caution should be used when joining, following or friending any person or organization online. Post journalists should not be involved in any social networks related to advocacy or a special interest regarding topics they cover, unless specifically permitted by a supervising editor for reporting and so long as other standards of transparency are maintained while doing any such reporting.

Post journalists should not accept or place tokens, badges or virtual gifts from political or partisan causes on pages or sites, and should monitor information posted on your own personal profile sites by those with whom you are associated online for appropriateness.

It’s far more detailed than that little blurb gives away. Worth reading and more importantly – discussing. Should journalists have fewer rights than the average Joe? Should the average Joe also adhere to these guidelines?

The fact is, people have been talking trash on the internet since its inception. Many have been using aliases, but those are getting easier and easier to track every year. Do you really want to have your name, your job and your family associated with some of the things you say online?

Perhaps I’m the wrong person to be asking that question, given my own Twitter habits. I swear, get into arguments etc, all under a pseudonym that everyone and their donkey knows belongs to Wendy Sullivan. My “good name” is ruined.

Or is it?

For some, outlandish behavior on the internet – under a real or assumed name – is part of their “act”. For me, hyperbole and polemics rule the day. I get attention. Perhaps people don’t want to separate the wheat from the chaff where my musings are concerned, but enough do, and that makes my shtick worthwhile.

If I worked for the WaPo, I wouldn’t have the freedom to do that. I wouldn’t have the freedom to develop my own deranged little niche.

So what’s fair here?