Twitter trouble.

"I'm bored might go gym," "Attention next 50 who follow @comedyandtruth get a follow back!" "The thought of Chili and chocolat is just nasty." Language on Twitter pretty much has the same pattern: informal, basic; with ellipsis and contraction involved in every line. The grammar police continuously have a heart attack because it seems as if the entire nation can't use your or you're in a grammatically correct way. But why should people worry? It is only Twitter, nobody really cares about what people tweet. Unfortunately that is wrong.  Language is delicate and often used in a careless way. Although mostly unintentional, the language you do use on Twitter can get you into trouble.

 CASE ONE. The suspect: Leigh Van Bryan. The tweet: "free this week for a quick gossip/catch up before I go destroy America?" The investigators: Homeland Security. As you can probably guess the main concern was the verb "destroy" which in this case was slang for party. But why did this particular word get him arrested? Would the case still of been the same if he had used the synonyms "finish" or "abolish?" Would he still of been "treated like some kind of terrorist" as Bryan states. Research shows that although not 100% sure, this would probably not of been the case. Homeland Security has printed a set of words that are moderated on social networking sites. The website freepatriot.org allowed me to view these words. A few include: "Assassination," "Nuclear," "collapse," "gunfight" and even "pork!" Interestingly coarse language is not included; but verbs and nouns are the main focus. This is so that the security can report on suspicious actions and objects. The lexical field is mainly terrorism and weapons. This is probably so that the investigators don't have to continuously read tweets that involve how people feel about somebody's latest break up or the name to Kim Kardashian's baby!

 Rules about language have become increasingly stricter on social networking sites. Another example was summarised in an article by The Independent. This time the suspect was Paul Chambers who "decided to vent his frustrations on twitter" after snow had jeopardised his travel plans. He tweeted, "Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high" Again another verb this time "blowing" is the worry. Civil libertarian Tessa Mayes comments on this case saying, "The police's actions seem laughable and suggest desperation in their efforts to combat terrorism, yet they have serious repercussions for all of us."

As you may be aware both these tweets are both written by male. This could fit into Lakoff's theory on how men use humour in their speech. However this has obviously had major consequences; Abta a trade association saying how, "Airport staff does not have a sense of humour when it comes to potential risk."

 Overall you have to watch the language you use on Twitter and other social networking sites. You never know, what may seem like a joke to you, could be a threat to someone else. You have been warned!  

Morgana Vickers.