How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life

Sacco’s Twitter feed had become a horror show. “In light of @Justine-Sacco disgusting racist tweet, I’m donating to @care today” and “How did @JustineSacco get a PR job?! Her level of racist ignorance belongs on Fox News. #AIDS can affect anyone!” and “I’m an IAC employee and I don’t want @JustineSacco doing any communications on our behalf ever again. Ever.” The furor over Sacco’s tweet had become not just an ideological crusade against her perceived bigotry but also a form of idle entertainment. A Twitter user did indeed go to the airport to tweet her arrival. By the time Sacco had touched down, tens of thousands of angry tweets had been sent in response to her joke. Photo In the early days of Twitter, I was a keen shamer. I was among the first people to alert social media. Still, in those early days, the collective fury felt righteous, powerful and effective. Four weeks later, Stone and Jamie were out celebrating Jamie’s birthday when their phones started vibrating repeatedly.

The Story of a Tweet When you follow people, their Tweets instantly show up in your timeline. Similarly, your Tweets show up in your followers' timelines. To see interesting Tweets, follow interesting people: friends, celebrities, news sources, or anyone whose Tweets you enjoy. Learn the lingo Compose Write a Tweet, post a photo, or share a video. Notifications See when someone retweets or favorites one of your Tweets, replies to you, or mentions you. Messages Have private conversations with your followers. Me Access your profile, lists, followers, and the people you follow. Follow Quickly follow people by adding their usernames.

Why don't my tweets show up in any hashtag feeds?