Texting, twittering and the Bear Stearns trial

One of the more interesting quotes from the recent acquittal of two former Bear Stearns traders on fraud charges came in The New York Times coverage of the verdict, courtesy of a quote by John Hueston, who prosecuted Enron’s former top executives, Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay:

“The texting, twittering, BlackBerry-toting jurors of today understand that an e-mail capturing a concern, doubt or momentary distress does not reflect thought over time, much less a vetted public statement."

If Mr. Hueston's right, the consequences of this phenomenon extend not just to the courtroom, but to the court of public opinion as well -- where presumably the public also will understand that such electronic communication can be taken out of context. The ramifications for reputation management are self-evident.

PS -- Beyond the substance, that's a heck of a quote, by the way. Wish I'd come up with it!