OUTRAGE! vrs You Can Say Anything You Like on Twitter

I'm a big fan of Twitter.
I think it's a really great way to keep up to date with a whole host of different sets of interests and friends and hobbies and family.

It's not perfect however, through no fault of Twitter itself.
There are cultures forming that are quite opposite that are both equally irritating.

1) Faux outrage(!)
At least a couple of times per day I'm now seeing someone outraged at something they've seen in the media. Get a grip. If you read something on the internet that starts your hackles rising, ask yourself these two questions before you wade in with your own comments.
a) Am I actually offended by this myself, in person, on behalf of a loved one or professionally? Imagined offence by an unknown third party doesn't count.
b) Am I being trolled? There are many people out there who just want to cause offence. No, I don't know why either, but there you are. If you've been offended by something a Troll has said, ignore it. An angry reply is exactly what they want. An example is the Daily Mail, any page you like, or online. Its whole purpose is to make you outraged - don't let it. Right, that's outrage dealt with. Now the opposite.

2) You Can Say Anything You Like on Twitter.
I don't understand why otherwise sensible, clever people feel the need to make outrageous comments on the web. It happens everywhere, but Twitter is worst, maybe because its limit of 140 characters can lead people to edit all the facts out of their insightful comment before it's posted. The nature of retweets doesn't help. Don't assume you can make a whole big point on twitter in twenty consecutive tweets, coz someone might take the middle one and retweet it out of context. You know the one, it's the tweet that looks like a soundbite with no facts in it.

I had a fairly mild disagreement with a fellow tweeter last night. If I'd followed my own advise in point one above I would never have commented, and if he'd followed my advice in point two then it wouldn't have happened anyway.

So, to sum up, can we all please try to avoid offending anyone, and being offended.
Thanks.


Want do you think? Let me know in the comments.