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News & ArtsFriday, December 18, 2009
Tech What Are You Doing Right Now?
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Twittering about my toddler's death—as it happens.
2
I don't have a problem with what she did, and I happen to believe that Twitter is the most useless thing on Earth.
4
i think it makes sense to do something normal during a totally insane moment of upheavel. its a way of grasping at a familiar reality when insane things are going on.
i updated seconds after the shooting in southcenter last november, as we were being hearded into the dressing rooms of a forever 21.
i updated seconds after the shooting in southcenter last november, as we were being hearded into the dressing rooms of a forever 21.
5
She didn't tweet about it "as it was happening" but after the kid was already dead for 20 minutes or something, after the paramedics were already there.
It's a little weird, but so is the entire premise of twitter itself.
It's a little weird, but so is the entire premise of twitter itself.
6
Jesus, it's not like she was giving a blow by blow account. She asks for prayers after saying what happened, then tweets hours later that he died. Big whoop.
7
It was a 'tweet accident', a sign of the times. If someone could only tweet them waterboarding her ass in jail. One can dream, 'tis the season of miracles.
8
Why is this an issue and why is this poor woman being taken to task for this? She asked for prayer from her community at a time when she REALLY needed it, and then later, terribly, tragically, later, she let folks know what had happened. Leave this family alone to heal, if they can.
9
It makes sense in a weird way, I suppose. It's got to be easier to just "text" that to a bunch of people so they'll find out at once than to call and tell people.
11
the disgusting thing here is strangers on the interwebs attacking a mother whose child just died. that's unforgivable.
12
There is something to be said for the ease of mass dissemination of information rather than having to make lots of phone calls and having to explain over and over and over the horror you've just gone through to people on whom you can rely for support. Or relying on others to do it for you.
The only thing that doesn't gel is why she was tweeting it to everyone and now the family wants to be left alone.
Of course, we are dealing with a grieving mother/ family, so maybe a little leniency should be given if they aren't totally logical & their wishes change.
The only thing that doesn't gel is why she was tweeting it to everyone and now the family wants to be left alone.
Of course, we are dealing with a grieving mother/ family, so maybe a little leniency should be given if they aren't totally logical & their wishes change.
13
Hey Loveschild... Fuck you.
You want to imprison and torture a mother who made massive mistake that cost her child her life? Wow. And here I didn't think you could sink any lower.
You truly are an evil cunt.
You want to imprison and torture a mother who made massive mistake that cost her child her life? Wow. And here I didn't think you could sink any lower.
You truly are an evil cunt.
14
fuck. Not even going to click on the link, Dan.
Imagining loosing my kiddo is not a place I will go.
f-ugh.
Imagining loosing my kiddo is not a place I will go.
f-ugh.
15
If this woman had phoned her neighbour no one would think anything of it.
I don't 'tweet', but I can understand needing to reach out for support when it feels like solid ground is melting beneath your feet.
I don't 'tweet', but I can understand needing to reach out for support when it feels like solid ground is melting beneath your feet.
16
The problem isn't the mother, it's the medium. I don't blame her for writing it, for needing to acknowledging it to herself and let people know. But because Twitter has become the first place people turn to (rather than the telephone, a letter, or a diary), her friends and family members had a horrible shock coming from a seemingly innocuous place. As I said, I don't blame her--who can think straight at a time like that?--but wouldn't it have been better for everyone else if she'd told one person, and they had spread the word in a more tactful way?
Let's spare the user here, but surely we can criticize the medium and the way it's cheapened communications like this.
Let's spare the user here, but surely we can criticize the medium and the way it's cheapened communications like this.
17
My heart goes out to this family.
I don't "tweet", but I don't understand why this woman is being hammered. According to the article, she pulled her child out and did CPR until the paramedics took over. She then asked for prayer, likely using a smart phone while remaining by his side. I'm guessing she thought that the update, announcing his passing, was an easy way to put the truth out there and save herself the heartache of making those phone calls.
Like I said, I don't do social network sites, but I don't think her use of one here makes her a monster. She's in the midst of the worse thing I, as a parent, could ever imagine. Give her some grace, it was a horrible, unavoidable accident and her baby is gone.
I don't "tweet", but I don't understand why this woman is being hammered. According to the article, she pulled her child out and did CPR until the paramedics took over. She then asked for prayer, likely using a smart phone while remaining by his side. I'm guessing she thought that the update, announcing his passing, was an easy way to put the truth out there and save herself the heartache of making those phone calls.
Like I said, I don't do social network sites, but I don't think her use of one here makes her a monster. She's in the midst of the worse thing I, as a parent, could ever imagine. Give her some grace, it was a horrible, unavoidable accident and her baby is gone.
18
@12: From the info in the article it sounds like the inital "tweets" were to inform the many friends that she had in the online community - which it seems she was very active in.
Her call for the family to be 'left alone' seems to be more in reference to the people beyond her own circle who are following this as a story and have been contacting her and the family for comment.
Her call for the family to be 'left alone' seems to be more in reference to the people beyond her own circle who are following this as a story and have been contacting her and the family for comment.
20
From someone in the article:
I really hope that if/when my husband, parents, future kids, whoever, die in a horrible accident, no one judges me for how I react (or don't react). Because who knows what I'll do? Scream and cry like that traffic ticket lady? Go completely numb? It's completely bullshit to judge someone in how they're dealing with their grief. As others have said, she wasn't doing a play by play, she was letting people know what happened and asking for support.
"I've seen people react [to a death], but they're screaming their heads off, crying and they don't know what to do," she said. "They're not on Twitter. I've never seen that before and I was just shocked."
I really hope that if/when my husband, parents, future kids, whoever, die in a horrible accident, no one judges me for how I react (or don't react). Because who knows what I'll do? Scream and cry like that traffic ticket lady? Go completely numb? It's completely bullshit to judge someone in how they're dealing with their grief. As others have said, she wasn't doing a play by play, she was letting people know what happened and asking for support.
21
@11 yep. anybody who has ever sat there with a call list, phoning person after person to tell them someone you, and they, loved is dead, knows very well how much of your energy is spent wishing you didn't have to do the same thing over and over and over.
23
#13 you just can't resist replying to Loveschild can you?
Fuck dude, if #7 isn't proof that Lovechild is an obvious troll then I don't know what is.
Fuck dude, if #7 isn't proof that Lovechild is an obvious troll then I don't know what is.
24
The only problem here is with the self righteous twits criticizing this woman. For some people, the distance of a post helps you keep it together, whereas making all those phone call would be too much to handle. My friend's son was recently in a car accident, and he's been keeping us up to date on his condition via facebook, which we are grateful for. We've also used facebook to coordinate cooking for them, sending flowers, etc. Are all of us horrible superficial people because we used a popular networking site to disseminate information quickly and avoid stepping on each other's toes?
25
What this particular version of the story is missing is the fact that this woman sent something like 74 tweets out that day. Maybe if she weren't wasting an entire day on twitter, she would have monitored her children a little better.
Now, with that said, it is heartless and cruel to rip this woman a new one so soon. Even though she's a dingbat, she did loose a child - which is the worst feeling ever. Not only that, but I'm sure she's dealing with her own guilt for being so neglectful. This woman and her family deserves space and privacy while dealing with this tragedy. In the meantime, the cops need to investigate the whole story.
Now, with that said, it is heartless and cruel to rip this woman a new one so soon. Even though she's a dingbat, she did loose a child - which is the worst feeling ever. Not only that, but I'm sure she's dealing with her own guilt for being so neglectful. This woman and her family deserves space and privacy while dealing with this tragedy. In the meantime, the cops need to investigate the whole story.
26
@ 25, provide a link to the story showing how many tweets she sent out, or be forever known as a malicious liar. Your choice.
27
"I've seen people react [to a death], but they're screaming their heads off, crying and they don't know what to do," she said. "They're not on Twitter. I've never seen that before and I was just shocked."
Maybe a dingo ate her baby.
Maybe a dingo ate her baby.
28
Assuming you believe prayers can affect events, it makes every sense to use Twitter to get as many people to pray as possible for your kid to survive. I don't see what the problem is. Dan's description of the incident is unfair; she wasn't Twittering as he was drowning.
30
@7 - Loveschild, you show how unChristlike you are with that comment. Maybe if you strive to be a little more like Jesus the Christ that you say that you worship, you'd be more Christian than you say you are.
31
I guess what pushes the "weird" button for people (myself included) is that , like the "tweeting groom" from last week, it just doesn't seem instinctual or "natural" to set aside the moment-by-moment flow of a pivotal experience to document said experience as it is happening instead of waiting. I mean, it requires a conscious thought process and deliberate action to pick up the phone, sign in, and write out an entry. The wedding thing seemed more obnoxious than anything; but in this case, at least speaking for myself, I just can't conceive of having my child die, and then having the urge to tweet about it relatively soon after. Hell, I'm not sure I would even have the wherewithal to make a phone call until the next day. Who knows for sure, but again, it just seems really odd.
32
@ 31, if you've ever gone to the hospital while someone was in the emergency room, you'll recall that you have a whole lot of nothing to do. And if you read this article, they blur the time somewhat: After meticulously noting the times of the 911 call, the time the paramedics arrived, and the two tweets she did around that time, they then say "five hours later, AFTER HER SON HAD BEEN PRONOUNCED DEAD [my emphasis], (she) tweeted again."
They give the time of the tweet, but give no mention of what time the boy died - was it five minutes earlier, or hours earlier?
That's the thing that people like Dan need to know before getting their panties in a twist and irresponsibly saying that she tweeted it as it happened. That's the fact that's not being reported, probably because it was long before she tweeted her boy's death - long enough for everyone to see that she had time to take in the news before quickly sharing the news. It's no different than making a phone call.
They give the time of the tweet, but give no mention of what time the boy died - was it five minutes earlier, or hours earlier?
That's the thing that people like Dan need to know before getting their panties in a twist and irresponsibly saying that she tweeted it as it happened. That's the fact that's not being reported, probably because it was long before she tweeted her boy's death - long enough for everyone to see that she had time to take in the news before quickly sharing the news. It's no different than making a phone call.
33
@26 From what's out there it's been a blogger who has reviewed the number of tweets. But it has spread like wild fire.
http://girlarsonist.blogspot.com/2009/12…
It's something that needs to be looked carefully, a toddler is dead because of someones irresponsibility, a precious life has been lost due to crass behavior and it shouldn't be taken lightly.
http://girlarsonist.blogspot.com/2009/12…
It's something that needs to be looked carefully, a toddler is dead because of someones irresponsibility, a precious life has been lost due to crass behavior and it shouldn't be taken lightly.
34
@31: Thing is, I don't think I'd ever get up the courage to make those awful phone calls everyone keeps talking about as some kind of evil necessity that Twitter has now benignly replaced. Sitting by a phone with a *list* is totally inconceivable to me.
I wouldn't Twitter or Facebook or whatever it either; it's not something I want underneath someone's status update "LOL LOOK AT THIS CAT." Ugh.
I'd call my boyfriend (if he wasn't the tragedy) and ask him to come and be with me. Then I'd call my mother, who I'd trust to let all my other family know, and would tell anyone else if I asked. Those are the two people who would be confused if they had to find out from someone else, or found out at the same time as everyone else.
I can't think of why I'd be seized by the urge to inform every acquaintance I know.
I wouldn't Twitter or Facebook or whatever it either; it's not something I want underneath someone's status update "LOL LOOK AT THIS CAT." Ugh.
I'd call my boyfriend (if he wasn't the tragedy) and ask him to come and be with me. Then I'd call my mother, who I'd trust to let all my other family know, and would tell anyone else if I asked. Those are the two people who would be confused if they had to find out from someone else, or found out at the same time as everyone else.
I can't think of why I'd be seized by the urge to inform every acquaintance I know.
35
Fuck all the haters who don't understand the medium.
If I were to be in a serious emergency and needed help NOW, Twitter would be one of the FIRST places I'd reach out to. It's a direct message to all of my real life close friends who would all be INSTANTLY notified of my plight. I could count on simultaneous responses from a multitude of people and would have an active GROUP working to help out within minutes.
Just because someone don't happen to understand that people use the tool for other things to then to talk about what they had for lunch doesn't mean that there is no utility in in the tool.
If I were to be in a serious emergency and needed help NOW, Twitter would be one of the FIRST places I'd reach out to. It's a direct message to all of my real life close friends who would all be INSTANTLY notified of my plight. I could count on simultaneous responses from a multitude of people and would have an active GROUP working to help out within minutes.
Just because someone don't happen to understand that people use the tool for other things to then to talk about what they had for lunch doesn't mean that there is no utility in in the tool.
37
it is weird that shed twitter this right away, but as someone who has lost someone really close to me, and known parents who've lost kids, I know grief makes you do weird , weird shit. would we be this irritable with this lady if she'd been distracted doing anything else eg watching tv, napping? twitter is leotarded but its not the problem here. tragic accident. no mom can be everywhere at once, society expects moms to be superbeings yadda yadda. poor lady havin to deal with this nonsense after losing a kid
one lesson we may remember from this though is folks who post stuff online are actual people and not just text we can tear down, that there's a real person with real feelings behind 128 characters of what is usually drivel...more love, less hate yall
one lesson we may remember from this though is folks who post stuff online are actual people and not just text we can tear down, that there's a real person with real feelings behind 128 characters of what is usually drivel...more love, less hate yall
38
@ 33, the mom is negligent for letting her kid go unsupervised by the pool. But it's a leap for @ 25 to say she was twittering all day and implying that somehow the kid was getting into dangerous situations all along.
@ 36, did you read my comment @ 32?
@ 36, did you read my comment @ 32?
39
@36: no, skepticism and reticence are one thing. If someone doesn't want to use twitter, fine by me. That's their choice no harm no foul.
But in this situation, when people are attacking this poor woman because they don't understand or have the same affinity with social media that she does, calling her behavior inappropriate or suspect, that's hating.
But in this situation, when people are attacking this poor woman because they don't understand or have the same affinity with social media that she does, calling her behavior inappropriate or suspect, that's hating.
40
My nephew was murdered in October. My brother, whose child it was, could not bring himself to make all the family phone calls, so he called our mother and asked her to call the rest of the family. To get the word out to family friends and to more distant relations, we posted status updates on Facebook. If you haven't had to walk that particular path, don't piss on someone else for choosing another way. The word got out. The medium is irrelevant. A phone call requires you to stop and get the number, call, deal with the initial greeting, then break the news and deal with someone else's emotions. One at a time. It's horrible. If you haven't had to do it, then don't judge her on this.
41
I don't get all the hatred towards this woman either. A lot of people use Twitter over their phones because its a quick easy way to let a lot of people know what is going on. Like #11 pointed out, making phone call after phone call is not easy in a crisis. Twitter is there, and its fast. No waiting on voicemail, no children answering, etc.
Also, you are given the option of making your Tweets private. She may have chosen not to for various reasons, but who is going to be thinking that in harsh time.
Give the woman a break.
It's a new decade, new century, we have new and frankly, better communication mediums. What's so godawful about using them? If she was sitting on her ass and posting about her dying kid rather than calling 911, yeah I could see a problem, but there is no evidence she did anything like that.
Also, you are given the option of making your Tweets private. She may have chosen not to for various reasons, but who is going to be thinking that in harsh time.
Give the woman a break.
It's a new decade, new century, we have new and frankly, better communication mediums. What's so godawful about using them? If she was sitting on her ass and posting about her dying kid rather than calling 911, yeah I could see a problem, but there is no evidence she did anything like that.
42
I don't get twitter and I don't use it, but I don't get all the vitriol aimed at this woman either.
And for those who say that her being online a lot is negligence, you're a bunch of assholes. Nobody would bat an eyelash if she'd been working (which, according to the article, she was doing yardwork/cleaning up after chickens with the older kid when it happened) or reading or watching tv or cooking dinner or anything else.
It's tragic and probably could have been avoided, but shit happens, accidents happen, and the proper response from all of us who are not involved in this is "Poor woman, there but for the grace of (insert deity or non-deity of your choice here) go I." Because this could happen to anyone.
And for those who say that her being online a lot is negligence, you're a bunch of assholes. Nobody would bat an eyelash if she'd been working (which, according to the article, she was doing yardwork/cleaning up after chickens with the older kid when it happened) or reading or watching tv or cooking dinner or anything else.
It's tragic and probably could have been avoided, but shit happens, accidents happen, and the proper response from all of us who are not involved in this is "Poor woman, there but for the grace of (insert deity or non-deity of your choice here) go I." Because this could happen to anyone.
43
Just to be clear, I was not trying to imply the poor mom did anything wrong or suspicious here. It's a shitty situation all around quite obviously.
All I was doing was trying (and apparently failing) to cogently explain how tweeting about a child's death *relatively* soon afterward *might* not strike most people as normal, yet I still get jumped on and told I am "hating" or don't "understand" Twitter or whatever the fuck.
I get it, I am aware of its utility; it's just another medium of communication and helps people deal with life in a new way. The way Dan phrased his post probably didn't help people's feelings about it any either. But still, to *most* people, it's not something that would come to mind as something to do after a tragedy such as this.
All I was doing was trying (and apparently failing) to cogently explain how tweeting about a child's death *relatively* soon afterward *might* not strike most people as normal, yet I still get jumped on and told I am "hating" or don't "understand" Twitter or whatever the fuck.
I get it, I am aware of its utility; it's just another medium of communication and helps people deal with life in a new way. The way Dan phrased his post probably didn't help people's feelings about it any either. But still, to *most* people, it's not something that would come to mind as something to do after a tragedy such as this.
44
@ 43. perhaps, but most people don't blog about motherhood to 5,000 twitter followers. I see your point, but I think keeping this fact in mind should change most people's perspective, especially given the fact that we don't know when the poor boy died, but can guess that it was likely hours earlier than her post.
Shame on Dan for this post. I expect more from him.
Shame on Dan for this post. I expect more from him.
45
@43 I appreciate your point of view, and can understand your position, kind of.
The thing I don't get (at all) is where does *ANYONE* get off thinking this is all that weird? By all accounts blogging and twitter were a _very_ important part of her life.. including her livelihood. Why is it so weird to people that she would post about this using something that she uses ALL THE TIME? How does anyone feel entitled to judge her on how she chooses to communicate?
I guess I don't get it because I'm an early adopter. I've been on the internet since 1990 and have watched the blossoming of communication, through all its thousands of permutations, that is the internet first hand. I was on twitter over 2 years ago and the minute it started hitting the mainstream it has met with nothing but resistance. Twitter gets lot of vitriol from people who don't 'get it' but it is simply the latest, fastest, most complete way to instantly communicate with your peer group. That's all. Its basically a new type of phone. Would anyone freak out if she made an old-fashioned phone call? no. But they do freak out because it was on twitter.
What the hell is the difference?
The thing I don't get (at all) is where does *ANYONE* get off thinking this is all that weird? By all accounts blogging and twitter were a _very_ important part of her life.. including her livelihood. Why is it so weird to people that she would post about this using something that she uses ALL THE TIME? How does anyone feel entitled to judge her on how she chooses to communicate?
I guess I don't get it because I'm an early adopter. I've been on the internet since 1990 and have watched the blossoming of communication, through all its thousands of permutations, that is the internet first hand. I was on twitter over 2 years ago and the minute it started hitting the mainstream it has met with nothing but resistance. Twitter gets lot of vitriol from people who don't 'get it' but it is simply the latest, fastest, most complete way to instantly communicate with your peer group. That's all. Its basically a new type of phone. Would anyone freak out if she made an old-fashioned phone call? no. But they do freak out because it was on twitter.
What the hell is the difference?
46
i really don't know why this is surprising to anyone. yes, moms in our country are extremely (some would observe, purposely) isolated. yes, having an online 'community' makes this tolerable to some, in some ways. yes, connecting to that community would be a normal part of a person's process when they're in a stressful, totally fucked-up situation.
so what's the controversy now? oh, she used something NEW to contact her friends, instead of the ancient (approved) method of phoning people up. okay then.
sorry, what was the problem again? jesus, people. her kid is dead. give her a break.
so what's the controversy now? oh, she used something NEW to contact her friends, instead of the ancient (approved) method of phoning people up. okay then.
sorry, what was the problem again? jesus, people. her kid is dead. give her a break.
47
People suffer in different ways. I can understand, when someone is in a panic state, they might want to reach out to as many people as they can for help. What I don't understand is why they are investigating this.
49
This is the only article I have read on this story but I have some questions. Why did or would she leave a 2 year old unsupervised for more than 5 minutes (how much more? the estimate was 5 minutes from when she thought he fell in the pool) while she is doing work? Why did she think the 2 year old was with the 11 year old when the 11 year old had been outside working with her? She sent a tweet at 5:22 and at 5:23 a call was made to 911. To me this means that she was on twitter before looking for her 2 year old? Who was comforting the 11 year old after his brother's death? According to the report, he is the one who called 911 and he is the one who may have left the gate open that allowed the 2 year old access to the pool area.
When my brother died of cancer, a death which was expected, my first concern was not notifying dozens of people but comforting family members and finalizing funeral arrangements. I notified those closest to him, made arrangements and then took the time to contact others as time permitted. Everyone deals with death differently, but I would be outraged at being told by twitter or email about the death of someone I cared about much less a child.
When my brother died of cancer, a death which was expected, my first concern was not notifying dozens of people but comforting family members and finalizing funeral arrangements. I notified those closest to him, made arrangements and then took the time to contact others as time permitted. Everyone deals with death differently, but I would be outraged at being told by twitter or email about the death of someone I cared about much less a child.
50
@ 49, would you have sent a tweet if you had been tweeting about your brother's cancer? Or is there some arbitrary rule you have that the internet is not the way to communicate this stuff?
A couple of years ago, one of my wife's childhood friends was put into a coma after a hit and run accident. Her brother started a blog so that her far-flung friends and family could follow her progress in the hospital, which was from bad to worse, and eventually she died. We learned of her death via a blog post, and were happy to receive the news in a timely fashion.
I'm going to guess that your brother's illness was a few years ago, before the advent of blogs and Twitter. I'm sorry for your loss, but I believe that your feelings about this being - what exactly? Gauche? - are misplaced and rooted in misunderstanding.
A couple of years ago, one of my wife's childhood friends was put into a coma after a hit and run accident. Her brother started a blog so that her far-flung friends and family could follow her progress in the hospital, which was from bad to worse, and eventually she died. We learned of her death via a blog post, and were happy to receive the news in a timely fashion.
I'm going to guess that your brother's illness was a few years ago, before the advent of blogs and Twitter. I'm sorry for your loss, but I believe that your feelings about this being - what exactly? Gauche? - are misplaced and rooted in misunderstanding.
51
Matt,
For some reason you think I'm attacking her and I am not. I had some questions (that I still don't know the answers to, but knowing would not change my preference)and simply stated that I personally would not expect or appreciate being informed of the death of someone close to me in this fashion. The manner of death and the fact that this is a toddler who died while another child could possibly be feeling responsible makes it all the more horrible in my mind.
C'est la vie, live and let live, to each his own, tweet to your hearts content. Keeping up with family and friends via email, sending jokes and informative articles is great. When it comes to death, this is not for me.
Take good care.
For some reason you think I'm attacking her and I am not. I had some questions (that I still don't know the answers to, but knowing would not change my preference)and simply stated that I personally would not expect or appreciate being informed of the death of someone close to me in this fashion. The manner of death and the fact that this is a toddler who died while another child could possibly be feeling responsible makes it all the more horrible in my mind.
C'est la vie, live and let live, to each his own, tweet to your hearts content. Keeping up with family and friends via email, sending jokes and informative articles is great. When it comes to death, this is not for me.
Take good care.
52
@ 51, no, that's a misreading of my comments. You'll notice the my response to you doesn't mention this child's death.
Linda, what I'm puzzling out is precisely why you wouldn't "appreciate being informed of the death of someone close to me in this fashion." I gave an example of how my wife and I did appreciate being informed of the death of someone close to us in this fashion. Why wouldn't you? You only say that you don't, but I was trying to get an answer to the question of why.
Linda, what I'm puzzling out is precisely why you wouldn't "appreciate being informed of the death of someone close to me in this fashion." I gave an example of how my wife and I did appreciate being informed of the death of someone close to us in this fashion. Why wouldn't you? You only say that you don't, but I was trying to get an answer to the question of why.
53
@52, The best answer I can give you for precisely why I feel this way is that it seems oddly cold, impersonal and disrespectful. If I am close to this person, and when I say close I mean close family, close friends, people I see and communicate with daily or weekly, people that I count on and who count on me for love and support, a phone call would be prudent and expected just as they would expect the same from me. I am not referring to people I exchange an occasional email or Christmas card with or see at a family gathering or mutual friends party once or twice a year. If the person is a long distance friend, a friend of a friend, a distant relative, a co-worker and so on, I would not expect or be worthy of the same courtesy and will happily take the news anyway whomever chooses to get it to me.
Take care and have a good night.
Take care and have a good night.
54
It is absurd to compare Twitter as it was used by Mrs. Ross to how most people would use a phone to reach their friends. She has over 5,000 Twitter followers. You have 5,000 people's numbers in your cellphone or personal address book? A Twitter feed that is public is not being used just to communicate with friends. The same would be true of a Facebook account that was totally public (though I don't know anyone other than Sarah Palin and other (wannabe) celebrity types who has a totally public Facebook account). Some folks have lost the distinction between the general public and their circle of actual friends, and only start trying to get that line back in place when the general public voices disapproval and otherwise acts in a way that friends are expected not to do.
"Fog is rolling in thick scared the birds back in the coop," Ross tweeted at 5:22 p.m. on Monday.
At 5:23 p.m., her son called 911 to report that his brother, 2-year-old Bryson, was floating unconscious in the pool.
"Fog is rolling in thick scared the birds back in the coop," Ross tweeted at 5:22 p.m. on Monday.
At 5:23 p.m., her son called 911 to report that his brother, 2-year-old Bryson, was floating unconscious in the pool.
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Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
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Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
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What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
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The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
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NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
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