Two interesting Twitter incidents this past week or two have opened Pandora’s Box on the issue of our rights to tweet.

A  juror and a pro basketball player have both come under fire over tweeting in a way that their employer or the judge found objectionable, yet arguably were expressions of their right to free speech.

This comes on the heels of the Philadelphia Eagles’ gameday employee who was fired after posting to his Facebook page his dismay over the Eagles letting Brian Dawkins go.

Whew.  Where does the right to self-expression begin and end in these days of instant messaging, tweeting, posting, et al, providing our thoughts, feelings and status in real time?

In the case of the juror, Johnathan Powell, he texted about jury tips, getting to the courthouse early, being one of two “angry men”, etc.  All pretty benign stuff, but once it was uncovered by the defense attorney, was used as grounds for a retrial for his client on the basis of juror bias.

Charlie Villenueva, forward for the Bucks, was cited by his coach, who found Villenueva texted from the locker room during halftime, “In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We’re playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.”   Even though Villenueva was great in the second half, the coach’s point-of-view was that he  shouldn’t have tweeted during halftime because it might give people the sense that he wasn’t serious or focused on the game, or that the Bucks weren’t using halftime effectively.

This latter example  is perhaps more of an issue, since Villenueva was “on the company clock” so to speak, and his tweeting, like that of the Eagles’ gameday employee, was more directed at their employer.  Many would argue that employers have a right to expect anything potentially negative or damaging to the company to be prohibited among employees, and I agree with that.

However, the juror, to not be able to talk about their experiences and feelings prior to or after the start of the trial is a bit over the top.  During the trial or about the trial is another matter, as there are rules about discussing a case in any medium imposed by judges during the litigative process.

It will be interesting how these issues play out in the months to come.  For now, following the same etiquette as one would for cell phone usage is probably a good rule of thumb.

Just don’t take away my right to tweet my mind at the appropriate time.

KidWithMatches is the personal blog of Pete Eberbach, VP Director of Online Marketing & Technology with St. John + Partners.