Does a Twitter Post Matter Much?

The great reporter Seymour Hersh has two little rules for writing:
- Read before you write.
- …Well, two’s not important to this story.
I feel embarrassed today. Twice I’ve made a mistake by not reading carefully.
The first time was when I read a legal document about Jill Stein’s 2016 recount and neglected to check the footnotes. I then posted about the case on Facebook and Twitter and later had to qualify my statements because of the mistake.
Then this week I posted on social media about the DHS hack of Georgia’s elections systems. But this time I focused too much on the headlines of articles I cited and not the content. It hurt my understanding of events.
Basically, I stated that DHS changed its story from being guilty of hacking Georgia’s systems to being innocent. But that’s not accurate at all. They have always claimed they did not “hack” the systems. What changed was the way they spun it.
I regret my posts, and I’ve deleted them. But it taught me a lesson that I must be more careful, more diligent when voicing my views.
What’s interesting to me is that I figured it out while attempting to write a new blog post about the whole DHS affair. I was finding it difficult to form a cogent argument. The more I researched it, the more my understanding fell apart. Until finally, I was rereading the articles I had referenced online more carefully and realized, omg, I have it wrong.
From now on, I’m going to research better before I “shoot off my mouth.” I’m going to read more before I write and try to write about it before I post. It’s too easy to get carried away on social media.
My new advice is to always treat social media posts as though you’re writing an article, a book, or any other important document. Because you wouldn’t want a friend or follower to re-share a crummy post.
Like this song? Toss some coins into Terrence’s guitar case. Thanks!
