Our New Status Updates: Online Activities as Alibis

As our ability to share the minutiae of our everyday lives increases exponentially, thanks to greater connectivity and easier to use platforms, the big question becomes, are we giving too much of ourselves away? In the past we’ve seen people’s near obsessive online activities get them into trouble in the real world – Tweeting in the courtroom, bullying via MySpace and Second Life infidelities – but as far as we can tell, no one’s Internet habits have gotten them out of jam, until recently.

19-year old Brooklyn resident Rodney Bradford was being held in connection with two robberies and though he pleaded his innocence, there was no one to provide an alibi, until lawyers checked his Facebook profile. On the night of the alleged incident, it was discovered that Bradford had updated his status only moments before the muggings were reported to have taken place. His defense was able to trace the activity back to his father’s computer, confirming his whereabouts at the time and prompting the charges to be dropped.

While this seems to be far from an airtight form of evidence, given the fact that anyone could have sent the message, it sets an interesting landmark for our justice system and proves the further bleed between our digital and real worlds.

[via The Local]