Social media site for Twits: OPINION

ACCORDING to the New York Times this past weekend, there's another invention that needs to be un-invented, and that's Twitter.

Twitter was invented by Evan Williams' company.

A FEW months ago I submitted a list via this column of the 10 things I most wished had never been invented.

At the top of that list was the noise-on-a-stick that ruins so many suburban weekends, the dreaded leaf blower.

From the number of emails I received agreeing with me on that count, you have to wonder who on earth buys the wretched things.

They do nothing but make noise, pollute the environment and blow garden debris into the yard of your neighbours.

Useful, I suppose, if your intention is to upset said neighbours, but what's wrong with the faithful old rake and broom?

Quiet, and you get some exercise to sweeten the deal.

According to the New York Times this past weekend, there's another invention that needs to be un-invented, and that's Twitter.

The social media platform, according to Evan Williams, has broken the Internet. And Evan should know; his company invented Twitter, and it's now been blamed for the disaster that is Donald Trump being placed in charge of nuclear codes.

I've long believed that just because one has an opinion, it doesn't necessarily mean you are entitled to force-feed it to the masses.

And yes, I know I am skating on thin ice, having filled a large hole on this page since 2008. But I have consciously avoided Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Primarily because I suffer from a depressive illness and, while I receive the usual amount of abusive emails and letters one would expect when doing this for a living, they are limited.

I really couldn't bear nameless, faceless trolls having a go just because they are bored/sociopathic/just plain unpleasant.

But also because it's been proven that social media reinforces extreme opinions to the point that those who say it's acceptable to behead another person because their religious beliefs differ from their own - and then go ahead and do it while broadcasting it live on the internet - receive a million pats on the back from like-minded ratbags.

Try getting that much instant gratification from snail mail.

Or, as Evan Williams put it in the Times' interview, the Internet rewards extremes.

Enter Donald Trump, stage right. Buoyed by acceptance of his childish Tweets on every subject (WORST PRESIDENT EVER!) he staggers from one disaster to the next, faster than 60 Minutes waving its chequebook under the noses of families of accused drug mules.

Trump firmly believes Twitter put him in the White House (not that he spends much time there).

Evan, mate, you have a lot to answer for.