# Regarding "tweets" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556 "2015-06-26T19:13:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/1 "2015-06-26T19:13:12Z")
I just did a Tweet at twitter a moment ago for the first time ever and was shocked to have the icon shoot back telling me that it went out to the person intended as well as to my homepage AND to some other places! I am not happy about it and would like to erase it all but don’t know how. Any suggestions? Btw, it almost seems malicious for them to do that.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/2 "2015-06-26T19:47:55Z")
All tweets are public unless you send a direct message, which is a new-ish feature I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/3 "2015-06-26T19:50:05Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > All tweets are public unless you send a direct message, which is a new-ish feature I believe. Thanks, didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/4 "2015-06-26T19:50:15Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > I just did a Tweet at twitter a moment ago for the first time ever and was shocked to have the icon shoot back telling me that it went out to the person intended as well as to my homepage AND to some other places! > > I am not happy about it and would like to erase it all but don’t know how. Any suggestions? > > Btw, it almost seems malicious for them to do that.:mad: Best just delete your account I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/5 "2015-06-26T19:54:04Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > All tweets are public unless you send a direct message, which is a new-ish feature I believe. And direct messages are easy to mess up and accidentally tweet to everyone. If you have a message you just want one other person to see and definitely don’t want anyone else to see, Twitter is not the best way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/6 "2015-06-26T20:02:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > If you have a message you just want one other person to see and definitely don’t want anyone else to see, Twitter is not the best way to do it. Yes, very much so. To add to my rather snippy first tweet, Dibbs, if you plan on using Twitter as a one-to-one communication tool, then you’ve picked a really bad one for that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/7 "2015-06-26T20:14:36Z")
What did you understand twitter to be? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/8 "2015-06-26T20:15:00Z")
I’m a Twitter user. I make a policy for myself that I don’t tweet anything I wouldn’t want the whole world to see. **Dibbs,** if you’re embarrassed about your first tweet, but would like to use Twitter again, maybe you can erase your account and set up a new one. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/9 "2015-06-26T20:37:45Z")
I posted a status update (food pic) on Instagram and Facebook and people are “liking” it. Dagnabbit!! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/10 "2015-06-26T20:46:22Z")
This is why I only tweet jokes because jokes don’t offend anyone. My last one was: Why did the chicken go to New York? You’re a fart-nose! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/11 "2015-06-26T20:48:23Z")
It’s super easy to delete tweets without deleting your entire account, though perhaps that is still the best course of action in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/12 "2015-06-26T22:14:35Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > What did you understand twitter to be? This. I’d really like to know what the OP thought was going to happen, or what the general purpose of Twitter was in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/13 "2015-06-27T00:33:37Z")
Thanks All for your friendly and helpful replies. I guess I’d better hurry up and delete the account, though with one particular snooper it may be too late. I opened the account a long time ago but never really used it but in a moment of weakness, a couple of hours ago, I wrote something seriously filthy to a filthy person … and so it’s a little embarrassing. (No doubt the Snooper received it too because she’s suddenly being short with me.) I never really knew what twitter was about (don’t even like the name), but I thought I could send an email thingy and only she would see it at her account. Of well, live and learn.☹ ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/14 "2015-06-27T00:38:08Z")
I deleted a tweet yesterday. I posted a graphic I made of a nazi flag with the words “Heritage Not Hate” under it. Later I realized that all you saw in the preview was the flag itself. **Deleted** ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/15 "2015-06-27T02:03:32Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > Thanks All for your friendly and helpful replies. I guess I’d better hurry up and delete the account, though with one particular snooper it may be too late. > > I opened the account a long time ago but never really used it but in a moment of weakness, a couple of hours ago, I wrote something seriously filthy to a filthy person … and so it’s a little embarrassing. (No doubt the Snooper received it too because she’s suddenly being short with me.) > > I never really knew what twitter was about (don’t even like the name), but I thought I could send an email thingy and only she would see it at her account. Of well, live and learn.☹ You should definately share it here so we can help you judge it’s post worthiness. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/16 "2015-06-27T03:07:53Z")
I’m not very conversant with twitter either. Couple of questions. Sometimes I will send a tweet to a writer when I like an article. These are always “@theirname.” Sometimes I get a reply. One time I tweeted to Chris Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen that I’d like to see them review pastry brushes, and I got a direct reply “@ThelmaLou.” Were those _direct messages_ only seen by that person and me? I’m not on Facebook, and I only have about four followers-- not sure where they even came from. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/17 "2015-06-27T03:52:49Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > One time I tweeted to Chris Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen that I’d like to see them review pastry brushes, and I got a direct reply “@ThelmaLou.” Were those _direct messages_ only seen by that person and me? That’s a public exchange, visible to anyone who visits either yours or his individual pages. It will only have automatically appeared on the personal timelines of people who follow you both though, so it’s not exactly broadcasting. > [@](#): > > I’m not on Facebook, and I only have about four followers-- not sure where they even came from. There’s lots of bots on twitter that will follow random accounts for a while. They are best ignored as they are pretty transient. Interacting with someone with whom you have a shared interest, like Chris Kimball, will generate actual interested human followers. Look at who he follows, and the human followers you pick up yourself, and see if they are also of interest to you. Twitter needs a lot of curation, to be fair. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/18 "2015-06-27T04:43:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m not very conversant with twitter either. Couple of questions. > > Sometimes I will send a tweet to a writer when I like an article. These are always “@theirname.” Sometimes I get a reply. One time I tweeted to Chris Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen that I’d like to see them review pastry brushes, and I got a direct reply “@ThelmaLou.” Were those _direct messages_ only seen by that person and me? > > I’m not on Facebook, and I only have about four followers-- not sure where they even came from. I’d say partially yes but mostly no. 🙂 “Yes” in the sense that the only people who would see those two tweets in their stream\* are those who follow _both_ you and Chris Kimball (if they follow only one of you, the exchange won’t pop up on their stream). “No” in the sense that your tweet will be publicly posted to your Twitter page and Kimball’s tweet will be publicly posted to his page. So _anyone_ – including those who don’t even have a Twitter account – can read them by going to your individual pages. - where you can see tweets, chronologically with the most recent on top, from all of the accounts you follow. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/19 "2015-06-27T08:56:37Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > You should definately share it here so we can help you judge it’s post worthiness. I was caressed long ago when I was very young by something spiritual and evil, this little thing I did was on account of that … and understandably people would crucify me if I were foolish enough to do what you suggest. Sorry.:o ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556/20 "2015-06-27T10:30:01Z")
@ThelmaLou Do you have a silicone pastry brush? Are they even in the running? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-tweets/723556.md?page=2)