In recent months it has become clear that social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have been used as a means to locate people who are breaking the law. There have also been some cases of authorities finding people who have twitted abusive comments to others.
The latest news has hit the net – an American teen from Oregon has landed himself in trouble after he posted on Facebook that he was drinking and driving and then apologised to owners of cars that he hit.
Jacob Cox Brown probably thought he was talking to his friends when he posted “Drivin drunk… classsic 😉 but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P.”
Not something you would share with the world and now the police have found out that two vehicles were hit by an unknown driver, now figured out to be Jacob Cox Brown.
How did the police find out? Two of his friends reported the driving to the police, to make him accountable.
The police posted a press release which read “Astoria Police have an active social media presence. It was a private Facebook message to one of our officers that got this case moving, though. When you post…on Facebook, you have to figure that it is not going to stay private long.”
Cox-Brown has been charged with two counts of failing to perform the duties of a driver.
Kitguru says: This raises a good point however – don't always trust your friends on Facebook to keep quiet!
Better yet, don’t be friends at all with people who get drunk and then boast about smashing up property without any responsibility.