Month: June 2012

June 28, 2012 Uncategorized

Social media angle on SCOTUS healthcare decision

I’ve seen three interesting social media issues arise in the hours following the Supreme Court’s decision this morning on Obamacare:

1. Premature enunciation and the ensuing bruhaha

In a rush to report on the extremely complex decision, CNN’s website briefly stated that the healthcare law had been overturned. [Screenshot] Folks on Twitter were quick to pounce, and it still seems to be kind of flying under the radar that FOX News’ side-scrolling ticker got it wrong too. The comparisons to Dewey Defeats Truman are obvious. The picture below by @garyhe captures this notion visually.

But there are a couple important differences in modern and social media versus the 1940s.

Because of the faster means to get the word out, there is even more pressure for a media outlet to be the first. (The same kind of pressure, felt by a humble blogger like me to be among the first to analyze the issues herein is making it difficult for me to type right.) And members of mainstream media are not just competing against other mainstream media participants. As @roncoleman tweeted, “[t]he central role of @SCOTUSblog in this discussion is the truly historical event occurring today.” (@SCOTUSblog’s coverage of the decision was driven largely by the work of 81-year-old Lyle Denniston.)

And it’s easy to forget that mistakes in reporting can easily be undone. Unlike the paper in the Dewey Defeats Truman situation, which had to literally stop the presses, reset the type, print out new stacks of papers and physically deliver them hours later, the CNN website was changed immediately with little human effort. And the fact that CNN got it wrong couldn’t have harmed anyone, given that there were millions of commentators on Twitter to instantly lampoon it, thereby drawing attention to the error.

2. It’s not just law professors who can be constitutional scholars

@jonathanwpeters observed the profundity of how the discourse on Twitter had become erudite by simply noting: “June 28, 2012: the day that “Commerce Clause” trended on Twitter.” But maybe that eruditeness is just a facade. @jbtaylor gives us a warning: “Brace yourself. Everyone on Twitter is about to become a Constitutional scholar.”

3. Everyone’s a comedian and all the world’s a comedy club

Probably the best part of the social media response to the decision is the humor. Here are a few of my favorite tweets that look at the farcical side of this:

  • “Remember when John Roberts botched the President’s swearing-in on Inauguration Day? I think they’re all good now.” (by @johnsberman)
  • “I felt a sudden disturbance in the Law, as if millions of nascent law review articles cried out, and were suddenly silenced.” (by @timhwang)
  • “Tea Party just turned into a massive kegger as the last spare change has gone to buy all the beer left in St. Louis ‪#wow‬ (by @mimizhusband)
  • “Now that that’s over who wants to grab a Coke and watch some porn” – Clarence Thomas (by @platypusjones)
June 12, 2012 Litigation

Court says insurance company should have used social media to track down its insured

Cotto v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 2012 WL 2093331 (Mass.App.Ct. June 12, 2012)

Failure to consult Myspace and Facebook kills defense in insurance coverage case.

Plaintiff sued defendant insurance company after the insurance company refused to pay a judgment against its insured — plaintiff’s former friend and driver of the car in an accident that injured plaintiff. The insurance company claimed that because its insured was uncooperative, it did not have to pay. The trial court agreed with the insurance company and threw the case out on summary judgment. Plaintiff sought review with the Appeals Court of Massachusetts. On appeal, the court reversed and remanded.

At issue was whether the insurance company had exercised due diligence in locating its insured. The court held that summary judgment was improper because the court was unable to conclude, as matter of law, that the insurance company carried its burden of proving that it exercised due diligence.

In evaluating the (lack of) efforts the insurance company had undertaken, the court observed that although there was evidence in the record that the insured had Myspace and Facebook accounts, there was nothing to indicate the insurance company or its investigators consulted these sites. Given the insureds “youth and transient lifestyle,” and the “importance of social media sites as centers of communication and sources of information,” the court found that a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the insurance company could have done more to locate its insured.

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