There's a bit of controversy on the Internet today over President Obama's recent disclosure that he, like most 48-year-old men, has never actually used Twitter. His Twitter account, @BarackObama, has 2.6 million followers, many of whom thought that the tweets came from the thumbs of the president, not a 24-year-old aide. As you might expect, some of his followers are shocked, shocked that they're not privy to 140-character micro-addresses from Obama himself. But, I've got to ask: Why is anyone upset about this? Shouldn't we be relieved that the most powerful man in the free world isn't "re-tweeting" jubilant healthcare reform news at 11:08 PM?
Moreso, does this really constitute the president "duping" 2.6 million people -- as Owen Thomas (formerly of Valleywag, now of NBCBayArea) alleges -- when the man can't go get a burger for lunch without 30 people planning it? Thomas goes on to parade his argument down Main Street of Stupidtown by calling this Twitter nonsense "one more disappointment for Obama's Webhead following" and asking, "Is Obama like Twitter, a hot product which has leapt from early adopters to the mainstream? Or is he a technofad like Friendster, which grew huge and then got abandoned by the cognoscenti?" Listen up, webheads nerds: Obama isn't a social networking anything, because he's not in your social network, nor is he your friend. He's the 44th President of the United States, and he has actual work to do (proof, above).
Can you imagine the political backlash (let alone the national-security risk) if Obama actually did use Twitter? If you're not allowed to tweet in your 8th-grade civics class, you shouldn't be able to tweet in the Oval Office. So breathe easy, nerds: this is a good thing. Get your celebrity fix from @RealTracyMorgan instead. He's much funnier, and he doesn't have the nuclear codes (as far as I know, anyway).
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