Tiny Twitter Tweets Lead to Confusion, Firing & Hostility

Does the restrictive 140 Twitter tweet character limit lead to needless confusion, resentment, and hostility in our increasingly online centric culture? Examples: The firing of Octavia Nasr, a CNN senior Middle East affairs editor, after she tweeted on the death of Hezbollah leader Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, and the banning of Markos Moulitsas (Daily Kos) from MSNBC, after the famed liberal blogger engaged in a bitter Twitter feud with MSNBC's Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe.

These two examples are cases where people instantly post stuff best left for a more detailed written piece, or live verbal conversation. Twitter even markets the service - talk about hype - by using the catchphrase: Join The Conversation. No, sorry Twitter - yours is not a true conversation - and never will be as such. A real conversation - a sincere, affecting, and arguably important one - occurs in real time, and in person between individuals. Speech stress, vocal cadence, participant's body language, and eye contact all contribute to a dialog which truly matters, and may inspire and educate. Twitter, for all its flashy appeal, is merely micro burst blogging. While it's informative, tantalizing, or even historic, it can also be woefully confusing, even antagonizing to the point of getting one fired (Nasr), or otherwise ostracized (Kos of Daily Kos).

I have experience with ticklish Twitter tweets. I had a tiny feud with comic Hal Sparks, after off the cuff remarks. Read about it here. I was new to Twitter, and still learning the ropes, but the incident opened my eyes. Bottom line for me was the brevity of Twitter can make for serious confusion. It's all well and good if you're shooting out a silly thing, say a link to an article or a dopey, innocent joke. For anything truly serious, for that which demands an in depth exploration by crafting a long article - or at the very least a few paragraphs - Twitter isn't a place to spout out loud publicly. You do so at your peril, and evidently at risk to your career.

It's said brevity is the soul of wit. Keep it short. Sure! Ask Octavia Nasr and Markos Moulitsas about brevity. It's a safe bet these two bitter 'Twitter Critters' will be more careful next time they tweet so casually.

Sources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/09/hezbollah-denounces-cnns-_n_640666.html

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/daily_kos_markos_moulitsas_blacklisted_from_msnbc_166938.asp