Athletes and Twitter: Bang!

Richard Deitsch said it best: Twitter is a loaded gun. The social networking phenomenon is fun, informative, instantaneous and easily accessible. But its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Many use Twitter socially, to stay up to date with the news happening around the world, or because their employers require them to Tweet. Others use Twitter to express their strong opinions about sports, politics and even religion. Those opinionated people can find themselves in trouble if they lack a filter, especially professional athletes. Athletes are placed on a pedestal and with that type of fame comes scrutiny, and sometimes trouble. Everything an athlete says is read, analyzed and talked about. So when reckless professionals Tweet something irresponsible, in seconds, the world knows about it. During the NFL draft, when the Saints chose Alabama RB Mark Ingram, Bush took to Twitter to say: "It's been fun, New Orleans." The result? Instant controversy. So before you decide to "pull the trigger" on Twitter, think. You won't be "wounding" anyone but yourself.