If you have an even remote interest in Twitter as a social media platform, you understand the tool has become as vital to our cultural identity as an email address. And if you’ve ever logged into Twitter, you know three things:

1) It provides a direct, constant stream of information…

2) Some of which is interesting, news-worthy, and/or humorous…

3) But for the most part, content is resoundingly and unquestionably stupid. So, caveat emptor.

Prime example #1: Ever check out a list of the ”trending” topics? If there’s a celebrity or notable person listed as trending, there’s a 99% chance that person is presumed dead (despite any evidence), or just flashed a body part on live television. Don’t get me wrong; beneath the e-thuggery and rampant misspellings, there is some useful insight to be gained. Unfortunately, some people aren’t willing to dig that far.

Early Tuesday afternoon, SI blogger Jimmy Traina posted a tweet indicating the Raiders were offering RB Darren McFadden and draft picks to the Jets for WR Plaxico Burress. When thousands of gulli-bulls threw their cyber hands up in despair, he tweeted a retraction shortly thereafter, noting his previous tweet was a joke. Didn’t matter: a couple of sports radio guys picked up the tweet; discussing the rumor on air with ESPN’s John Clayton (there’s sports talk radio for you — always on the cutting edge). Despite Traina issuing the clarification that his tweet was nothing more than a playful poke at the Carson Palmer trade, the fall-out was swift: Traina lost followers and Clayton admonished him by reportedly saying there are “no jokes on Twitter.” Thanks, Dad.

Hey John Clayton, Sportszilla, and the rest of the Jabber Jocks: Twitter is a joke. The overwhelming majority of tweets are poorly spelled, ill-thought ignorance spewed from the unwashed masses. That’s what makes it beautiful! You can have a terrible day then read someone’s thoughts on #thingskidsdo and realize our country is populated by mouthbreathers who think Obama was born in Kenya! It’s great.

Traina’s an entertaining must-follow, but let’s make this clear — the guy doesn’t purport to be anything other than a major sports fan who loves him some New York Yankees and hot gals in bikins (God bless him for that). He’s not exactly breaking scoops on a daily basis. Any five year-old “sport journalist” who knows how to use Twitter could have looked at a timeline of his tweets and figured that out. But then again, why do real work when it still pays to be lazy in your industry?

For more Twitter inanity, follow @Duke_Jackson

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