This afternoon I was walking around one of the urban lakes with my 3 month old daughter while listening to iHeartRadio. I tuned in to KFAN to hear Dan Barriero's latest rant. I caught part of his discussion regarding Twitter missteps and should we all be granted a Mulligan at some point for stupid comments.
This got me to thinking about Twitter and what Barriero sees as the problem. He believes that people get themselves into trouble Tweeting messages without deliberate thought about the perception of the receiver. While this may at times happen, I see the problem differently.
Twitter as a function of itself, allows you to communicate a message of up to 140 characters to your followers. So, I see each Tweet as deciphered against the background of all other Tweets from that user. It is similar to understanding a campaign slogan. There many be a short phrase that sums up the message meant to be sent to the public. But, the public also pieces together many bits of information to get the full and clear message.
Those of us that participate in sending and receiving Tweets are knowledgable of Twitters limitations. The best way in which to understand the messages, is within the context of many Tweets. So, when another type of news media takes a Tweet out of context, and places it to be interpreted by itself, we often lose its intended meaning.
The Mulligan Barriero is offering up to a misstepping Tweeter may be better used by the other media outlets deliberately misleading their public.
Nice point, Kara. I don't tweet much, but when I do I usually want to pass along something via link (like a new blog post). I see no point to criticize tweets. You're right. If I don't know what someone means it is up to me to look back on the context - if I care to. Otherwise, I ignore.
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