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When Social Media Users Hulk Up!

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Paul Keith:
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sparked controversy on Twitter yesterday. Mr. Shurtleff tweeted just after midnight last night to inform his followers that he had just given the go-ahead for convicted murderer Lee Gardner’s death by firing squad. While I’ve come across a few tweets (via a search on Twitter) showing support, the overwhelming majority of people are speaking out against what they feel is a “disgusting” use of Twitter.
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Normally I'm not one for editing an article's title but since I already did this for a topic in my forum, I felt I already broke that issue.




Is There Too Much Information on Twitter?


from: Chris Pirillo

40hz:
This would be my tweet to Mark Shurtleff (if I used Twitter):

Bravo Mr.Shurtleff!
Your self-serving posturing has earned you a very minor footnote in internet history.
You should feel proud.   (126 chars)

Renegade:
Meh. I don't see the point in getting upset. The guy just signed someone's death warrant, so I'd just write it off as him trying to reconcile his conscience in some way. But actually having politicians tweet things on their own might be a good thing.

@40Hz - (shameless plug) -- My little Twittle Twiddle Tweeter makes tweeting easier. :D (I'd never use Twitter otherwise.)

Deozaan:
I dunno. It just seems... not the thing you announce to the world. Taking someone's life (even indirectly, such as by giving the go ahead to do it) is a serious a solemn thing, even if that person "deserved" it. I don't think it belongs on Twitter, where it feels like:

"just executed a criminal. feelin mighty hungry. wares my sammich? lol!"

If he needs to reconcile his conscious in such a public manner, he probably ought to get a different job. It's not like he's the judge, jury, and executioner. He's just the guy who tells the firing squad to fire after the criminal's death has already been determined by others.

I think this sums it up really well:

Yes, the “public” would have read about this in the newspaper, or watched a clip about the execution on their evening news. With 140 characters, though, it’s difficult to express any type of sentiment or meaning behind one’s words. The AG simply stated that he approved the execution at that time. People will read any number of things into his message. Unless you were standing with Mr. Shurtleff at the time he sent the tweet, it’s likely you have no idea how he “felt” about it.
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Renegade:
True. It is pretty tacky/tasteless. I suppose I'm just rather apathetic. It's pretty bad when you're killing people anyways, so how much worse can the situation be? Being tasteless about it doesn't change the fact that you're about to kill someone. Dunno. Maybe I'm just too apathetic. It just seems like complaining about a scratch in the car paint when it doesn't have an engine or wheels. Y'know, there's an elephant in the room type of deal?

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