Do I Tweet, Or Am I Just A Twit?

Twitter is an interesting phenomenon. In 140 characters, people try to get their thoughts and ideas out into the cybersphere for anyone and everyone to read. The problem is that many of those "tweets" border on the inane. Who cares if someone just ate a slice of toast? Is it important that everyone knows that you just got something in your eye? Why is the success of your morning bowel movement a cause for national news?

Okay. That last one went overboard. Sorry about that. Still, I have seen Twitter used in some very amazing ways. Recently, people in Iran stayed in contact using the program and their cell phones. I believe that the plane landing in the Hudson River was also Tweeted first. That's an incredible use of 140 characters. But I have also seen some examples of how sports figures use Twitter. I know one has to shorten words to fit them in a tweet, but bad grammar? I have seen repostings of some local pro basketball players that makes a Liberal Arts student want to weep! I get the feeling that some of these guys who left college early would have benefitted from the full four years.

So I don't hate Twitter, but I don't love it either. It all boils down to how one "tweets". Perhaps we should all have a bit of a Twit(ter) Filter on our computers and cell phones. If the system detects idiotic tweets or horrendous grammar, the filter would kick in and refuse to post that tweet. Or maybe we should just realize that everything we post on Twitter stays there in some form, even if we delete it. Yes, that's correct. Your deleted tweets are still accessible.

Recently, Google mail put a function in place where you have several seconds to take back an email after you hit send. Maybe we'll get lucky and Twitter will do the same thing. Sadly, however, I believe that people who post really stupid or twit-like tweets could read and re-read their post and ask, "What's wrong with it?" Or maybe they would just say, "Shah..s'okay, ain't it?"

English teachers around the country must be weeping.