Tweets

I've been on Twitter for a few years now.  I heard about it several years ago and didn't really jump on board because it seemed so limiting and shallow.  But since I like to keep up on what's happening in this new social media world, I finally decided that I should jump in.  Around that time the Presidential election was gaining momentum and all of the candidates, especially Trump, were on Twitter and providing info direct to their constituents.  So it seemed like a good thing to try out.  I have to admit than when I first got on Twitter it was a bit addictive.  In a very short time you can scroll through a lot of Tweets and receive a lot of info.  You can easily choose who you want to follow so if you're a mind to validate your thoughts and not listen to people who you disagree with, then it's easy to just stay in an echo chamber.  Conversely, if you want to get really annoyed by people who you think are idiots, then you can find them and follow them.  It then becomes pretty easy to get in arguments with complete strangers over some subject that you both disagree on.  It's also pretty easy to mindlessly spout either good or evil on various things depending upon your frame of mind.  And most assuredly it's very easy to become a Twitter warrior and rant and rave over things that in real life is something you might take a few minutes to think about and then go about your day.  On balance, I've come to believe that the bad dramatically outweighs the good!  

After being on Twitter for a few years I've found myself turning away, largely with disdain.  Of course we all see our President tweeting on various things almost every day.  And I have to admit that it really is a good way for him to get his thoughts out directly to the people without the filter of the media, which clearly hate him and will put their own spin on whatever he says.  The problem though is that with someone in his position, I think people expect more.  They are turned off by the name calling and hostility he exhibits on Twitter.  How many times have you heard people who otherwise like many of the things that he has accomplished remark that they wish he'd just stop Tweeting.  But if you've been on Twitter for any length of time, you are aware that being active on Twitter results in a coarseness that many times doesn't reflect well on the user.  You almost can't help but react emotionally to the things you see there.  The other thing is that this form of social media allows people to have a voice who otherwise would be anonymous.  Do they need that voice?  Well, that's a whole other conversation but it seems that many want to engage on the issues of the day and see Twitter as a way to do that.

The other thing about Twitter is the recent phenomenon of the company (and don't forget that's what it is.  A company whose goal is to make money!) has engaged in pretty egregious suppression of many people who they don't agree with.  Read that as conservatives.  There are many, many examples of conservatives being censored or outright banned.  In what is supposedly a free society, it is at best concerning and at worst really disturbing.  Don't know where they are going with this but I don't see any solutions anytime soon.

And now we get to the latest dustup on Twitter.  Just last week Keven Hart was dumped from hosting the Oscars because of some tweets that were dredged up from several years ago that were supposedly offensive and homophobic.  Several years ago.  And the young Quarterback from Oklahoma, Kyler Murry who won the Heisman Trophy this week was confronted with tweets from when he was 14 that were supposedly Homophobic.  He was 14.  I say supposedly on both these cases becuase I haven't seen the tweets.  They were from several years ago and both are not remotely the peopole they were then.  These cases are tragic, maddening, and stupid.  And I think the average person believes that.  If this isn't a great lesson to any young person that whatever you put on social media never, ever goes away, I don't know what is.  I'm never going to be in the spotlight for anything, but I sometimes thank my lucky stars that Twitter wasn't around when I was a young dude.  Like most, I said a lot of stupid things.  I'm not the same person as the person who said stupid things in their youth.  Just like Kevin and Kyler.  Like I said, it's tragic.