To Tweet, or not to Tweet, that is the Question. Should Newlyweds Tweet Honeymoon Coitus? Should Mothers Tweet The Death of Their Children?

December 18th, 2009

When is it appropriate to Tweet? Should a mother tweet following the death of her child? Should a newlywed couple tweet during their honeymoon to document their consummation?

To answer these questions take a look at these two articles. Why Does a Mom Tweet Her Son’s Death In Near-Real Time? and  Best Man Rigs Newlyweds’ Bed To Tweet During Sex. Not Kidding.

In the former case, a mother tweeted her son’s death in near-real time.

At 5:38pm she called the police saying that her son Bryson was dead at the bottom of the family pool. At 6:12pm she asked her Twitter followers to pray for the life of her son. Only five hours later, she posted photos of the two-year-old Bryson along with the following message: Remembering my million dollar baby

My heart goes out to the Mother on her tragic loss. While many commenters found the mother’s actions to be inappropriate, who am I to Judge how people deal and cope with loss. For many, Twitter, Facebook, and Web 2.0 are  outlets for emotion. While the mother’s actions may seem unconventional, if she can take solace from her fellow tweeps, I think this behavior is healthy.

In many regards, web 2.0 has made society so accustomed to instant gratification, people may need the instant tweet or text from a loved one to help them get through this pain. Waiting for family to arrive from across the land for consolation may just take too long.

But on the lighter side of tweet appropriateness  is this story from the U.K.

This man, who is choosing to stay anonymous, has set up this Twitter account for the sole purpose of automatically tweeting when the newlyweds are having sex. I’m not kidding. Read the entire tweet stream from the bottom up if you want the full story. But basically, this guy was watching his friend’s house while they went on their honeymoon and he placed a device under their mattress. This device, which is similar to the one found here, is a pressure-sensitive pad that tweets out when sexual activity starts, when it ends, the force of the “action,” and a “frenzy” rating.

So the real first action is as follows:They?re on the job! #2 ¿ Action commenced at 15.50GMT. Weight: 151KG.

22 minutes later:

They?re off the job! #2 ? Action concluded at 16.12GMT. Duration: 22 m.05 s. Frenzy Index: 4 (easy listening). Judge?s Comment: “Good work!”

Newlyweds FTW! Bedsprings FTL! Privacy EPIC FAIL!

Let’s just hope the newlyweds don’t find out about this Twtiter account. Or else, I would expect a huge WTF.