Comments on: Would You Unfollow Someone On Twitter If They Used Bad Language A Lot?

By: tracey

tracey — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:27:16 +0000

Well it still would depend on who that person was. If as you mentioned it was a “real life” friend…probably would not un-follow…but if was just a net friend…unless I was getting something of value from the tweets that person usually posted…I’d probably unfollow.

There is just too much negative stuff I have to deal with every day anyway so just don’t need more.

By: Normandy_France

Normandy_France — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:56:39 +0000

Cluck, cluck!

There is a time and place for expletives but it’s unnecessary to use foul language all the time – it loses its force and simply becomes irritating. Such a shame for people who can’t express themselves any other way.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:53:04 +0000

your seriously uptight if you get offended by fowl language.

By: Mae

Mae — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:52:15 +0000

I would care if someone used a swear word to get a point across. If someone uses swear words as a substitute for not being articulate that would get on my nerves and that would make me unfollow someone.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:29:29 +0000

no problem Richard, I appreciate feedback from you all. :)

By: Richard Rumley

Richard Rumley — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:40:52 +0000

I would not follow or would unfollow someone who uses a lot (defined as more than an occasional swear word) of bad language. This is not so much from a position of morality or offensive word usage, but rather has more to do with making an intelligible point or comment. A lot of bad language tends to make both the author and the update appear infantile and the point gets lost in the mix, except that of anger or other such negative emotion.

The whole point of Twitter is the provision of a forum for many to share their ideas, comments, opinions, and interests with many others who may or may not share in their views. With the 140 limit this form of chat/text doesn’t lend itself to wasteful usage of one’s words and/or abbreviations. In short one only has a limited amount of space to make a legible or clear and concise point and to waste that space on repetitive and negative bad language doesn’t give their point much weight.

The use of foul language, while being offensive to some, also turns others away simply because of perceived shallowness of thought. That is to say that if one can not make their point without resorting to such language then their point lacks the weight of forethought or lack of vocabulary. Why then listen/read to that which conveys nothing more than just anger, adolescent humor, or other such negative emotion about a particular subject. There is more than enough of that within our own lives to deal with.

One last thought on this issue is that there is such a thing as social etiquette and respect of others which has become sadly lacking in today’s times. One may still effectively convey their frustration, anger, dissatisfaction, point of view, etc without resorting to the use of foul language. If one needs to vent, do so either in private or with friends in a non-public setting. Social networks should be conducive to either bringing like-minded individuals together or sharing opposing views in a congenial, respective, intelligent manner. It is in part about meeting others, sharing ideas, thoughts, opinions, and interests and in part about connecting with many individuals from very diverse backgrounds and cultures. It is a freedom in our country not found in most countries around the world, this ability to openly share one’s thoughts and opinions, no mater the subject. We should respect that freedom and avoid the use of foul language as a show of respect for others within the network.

Thank you Kevin for the opportunity and the space here for us to voice our opinions on this subject. It is appreciated.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:12:04 +0000

tweetchatter – I was thinking of adding a 3rd choice (still could I guess) but I assumed that everyone would vote for ‘maybe’. Which doesn’t really tell us anything. Though I appreciate a yes/no scenario is misleading if people could swing their vote either way

Roseli – Thanks for letting me know. Didn’t even notice til you said. PR 2 is pretty bad but the site might have got into the update late. Though it’s probably more to do with the lack of backlinks to the site, something which will get better with time.

By: Roseli A. Bakar

Roseli A. Bakar — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:44:21 +0000

I think google pagerank is updating. Time To Tweet now have a PR2. Cool.

By: tweetchatter

tweetchatter — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:15:34 +0000

You really should have a third choice. I wanted to vote no then yes then no then yes again. It is not an easy answer. It is nice that most people do not swear on twitter and if it became a cess pool of swear tweets, it would quickly loose its appeal. I would not stop following someone for a rare swear that might have a reason (I don’t swear much, but when I hit my finger with a hammer gosh darn does not do much good, a few choice words are much better). So there is a time when we all let out a *@**$*$£* so we cannot be too judgmental but on the hand we don’t want to be reading this stuff all the time.
Interesting question, thanks for asking it.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:18:57 +0000

Yeah I think very few people would unfollow a real life friend. I bet if you did it would cause an argument in real life haha.

Tracey – What if it wasn’t negative i.e. something like “Wow, I had a great f@@@ing day at the races”

Paul – I agree. If you are enjoying tweeting with someone they would really have to start pissing you off for you to remove them.

Roseli – It seems most people feel this way…i.e. the less they know them, the quicker they will unfollow them if they do something spammy or offensive.