As I may have mentioned in the past - and as many others (particularly some sports personalities and so-called celebrities) have discovered, one of the snags about Twitter is that the 'immediacy' of the medium almost inevitably means that writing in haste often results in repenting at leisure. That isn't to say, by the way, that writers might actually repent - i.e. change their mind about what they have written - but they certainly might regret having tweeted it.
Now, as I've also mentioned before, I've tried to restrict those I follow or by whom I am followed (to use the Twitter vernacular) to those with whom I have some sort of genuine association. In other words, apart from one or two exceptions, I tend to avoid 'personalities' in favour of 'real' people and, as a consequence, I haven't come across too much stuff which might be considered controversial.
There have, however, been occasions when I've been aggravated by a comment.
After all, a number of those within my own Twitter 'community' might be classified as being arty - so, it isn't surprising that (in political terms) some of their opinions are somewhat to the left of my own. However, since I'm aware of this, it doesn't come as too much of a surprise to me when they're expressed - except when they're expressed a little too often and in language which leaves a lot to be desired.
Having said that, even those factors can be excused to some extent.
What cannot be excused, however, is a refusal to recognise the facts when attempting to present a point of view. For example, if the current leader of the Labour party is prepared to accept that urgent steps need to be taken to address the issues arising from the legacy which his predecessors left their coalition successors, why on earth do some of his so-called followers seem unable to do the same thing?
Quite frankly, to suggest that these problems do not exist is blindingly stupid and it is completely beyond my understanding how apparently intelligent and well-educated individuals insist on castigating the coalition for attempting to sort out the mess they've inherited - and to use Twitter to promote these notions merely reminds others of the flaws in their misguided arguments.
Fortunately - but, sadly, in a way - in much the same way that television sets have on and off switches, Twitter affords the same degree of control; and, in that respect, actions speak louder than words.
