Deleting offensive tweets?

[TheTravellers]

Read about Steve Lackmeyer's tweet that he later deleted, and I've been wondering this for a long time. Why do people make offensive/stupid/wrongheaded tweets, then delete them shortly thereafter? Somebody, somewhere will most likely get a screen grab of it, it will live forever (or at least it won't go away quietly like the tweeter probably wished it would), and you'll get busted for it. I don't tweet, probably never will, but if I ever did, I don't think I'd ever tweet something racist (as has been done many times) and then go back 15 minutes later and delete it, assuming "Whew, OK, I deleted it, everything's fine and back to normal now".

[Mel]

"Act in haste, repent at leisure". Happens to everyone. I don't tweet.

[adaniel]

Most normal people know better to send out an offensive, racist, sexist tweet. But if you are racist, sexist, or have an offensive personality, you probably aren't a "normal" person to begin with. Louis CK nailed this perfectly with smartphone rant. When you tell someone something bad to their face, you will deal with the reprucussions immediately. It may be little more than just a visual display of their hurt feelings, but it will happen. When you fire off a tweet/text message/faceebook update, etc., its like screaming into space. You can say the most horrible thing and you *technically* don't have to face anyone personally or deal with any consequences, at least at first. Of course, online social justice warriors can always flood you with RT's and responses until you delete it (which as you pointed out is worthless since anything on the internet is forever). But you could also just turn off your computer or phone and not deal with it at all.

I think people in general have become very desensitized to normal human emotions and logic because of this and other things with technology. Just look how many people get off on being internet trolls in comment sections. There is a theory out there that technology is progessing far faster than the human mind and society in general can catch up. Twitter is becoming the perfect example of this. And I imagine when civilization finally collapses, whatever species that takes our place will probably pin our ultimate demise on something dealing with social media. I am only half joking.

[Dennis Heaton]

Come on, Mel...everybody Tweets!!!

[windowphobe]

Out of 50,000 or so tweets, I've probably deleted a couple of dozen, though the reason is usually bad spelling or the chance of misinterpretation. (One person has declared something close to offense, but I've known her for years and she has yet to unfollow me.)

[Mel]

My Robin can't rock anymore but I do tweet sometimes heading for the powder room.

[ctchandler]

Dennis,
I don't know if you are kidding or not, but I don't tweet, don't know how, and don't want to know how. And I am a retired "techie". Social media just doesn't do anything for me. I think I'm the only person on the planet that has never used Facebook. Actually, I'm not a "joiner" and have only joined two groups in my life, Yahoo's Widownet and OKCtalk.
C. T.

Come on, Mel...everybody Tweets!!!

[mkjeeves]

Out of 50,000 or so tweets, I've probably deleted a couple of dozen, though the reason is usually bad spelling or the chance of misinterpretation. (One person has declared something close to offense, but I've known her for years and she has yet to unfollow me.)

Good god, man. Have you thought about seeking help from a tweeters anonymous group?

[zookeeper]

Dennis,
I don't know if you are kidding or not, but I don't tweet, don't know how, and don't want to know how. And I am a retired "techie". Social media just doesn't do anything for me. I think I'm the only person on the planet that has never used Facebook. Actually, I'm not a "joiner" and have only joined two groups in my life, Yahoo's Widownet and OKCtalk.
C. T.

Sometimes, C.T., when it comes to technology: Less Is Better!

[Pete]

Dennis,
I don't know if you are kidding or not, but I don't tweet, don't know how, and don't want to know how. And I am a retired "techie". Social media just doesn't do anything for me. I think I'm the only person on the planet that has never used Facebook. Actually, I'm not a "joiner" and have only joined two groups in my life, Yahoo's Widownet and OKCtalk.
C. T.

This made my day.

Also, there are a lot of people who have avoided Facebook, so you are far from alone.

[Dennis Heaton]

Dennis, I don't know if you are kidding or not, but I don't tweet, don't know how, and don't want to know how. C. T.

C.T....I was kidding. For what it's worth, my Mom raised me right. I promised her that I would wait until I got married to Tweet.

P.S. I do have a FB account, to stay in touch with family.

[David]

Count me in on the no Facebook list. Besides the "not wanting anything to do with Facebook as a company" side of things, it has had the unexpected benefit of causing me to miss all of the family drama we've had in the last few years because I don't have an account to see or participate in it.

[windowphobe]

Good god, man. Have you thought about seeking help from a tweeters anonymous group?

How much help can you get out of 140 characters?

(Oh, and Steve Lackmeyer is closing in on 45,000. Then again, he's been on there slightly longer than I have.)

[mkjeeves]

I can honestly say I don't think I've read a single one. That's kind of his job to maintain some interest in his writing though isn't it? Maybe yours too FAIK.

[OKCDrummer77]

Dan Gordon, of the Samuel Gordon Jewelers family, is over the 150,000 mark in a little over 7 years on Twitter.

[TheTravellers]

Dan Gordon, of the Samuel Gordon Jewelers family, is over the 150,000 mark in a little over 7 years on Twitter.

So how many times did people find out he was in the bathroom/eating dinner/having a drink/watching tv/doing something nobody really cares about in all those tweets? Joking... A little.

[Bellaboo]

This made my day.

Also, there are a lot of people who have avoided Facebook, so you are far from alone.

Likewise, I refuse to join Facebook, tweet or any other kind of social media..... not getting my time. OKCtalk is the only thing I access.

[David]

In fairness to some social media, Twitter is exactly as useful as the list of people you follow. Follow a lot of city and downtown development accounts? Your feed will be full of awesome, and you will see stuff happen and get announced in what is practically real time.

[BBatesokc]

Personally, I really value Twitter more than an other social media platform. As stated previously, it just depends who you follow. I create lists to help me keep up with local happenings, technology, etc...

[Bullbear]

I am on facebook and have twitter but don't really use it as I never bothered to try to figure it all out.. I only joined for a contest to win Great concert tickets one time. .lol.. but I feel the same way about people deleting facebook posts. usually its the drunken updates or the passive aggressive ones that end up deleted..lol.. If I say it its out there forever. I don't really post much though

[Mel]

About a year ago I did make a twitter account. Just to keep my hands on my cleanskull moniker. Never have used it though.

[HangryHippo]

I quit Facebook when I took up Twitter. Aside from only wanting to deal with one at a time, Facebook had lost me. It just didn't seem useful or fun anymore. I've never sent a tweet, but it is excellent for staying on top of the goings-on around town.

[BBatesokc]

I never really understood people trying to compare Twitter to Facebook - to me they are completely different tools for social media. Probably that's simply because of how I use it.

I use Facebook on a personal level to keep up with close family and friends and to archive some of my activities and as a great place to keep photos. I also use my JohnTV Facebook as a tool for my commercial activism.

I use Twitter almost exclusively to keep up with local, national and some international news. I also use it to see the headlines from blogs I follow (like Lifehacker and mashable). I don't follow twitter feeds from friends and family - unless those friends tweet on topics I am interested in.

[Richard at Remax]

Dan Gordon, of the Samuel Gordon Jewelers family, is over the 150,000 mark in a little over 7 years on Twitter.

does he really think people care that much to demand that kind of volume? I certainly hope not

[windowphobe]

He has 12,716 followers, so if he thinks so, it's justified. (I have yet to break a thousand.)