As of April 2010, the social networking site Twitter had a little over 100 million users. As most Twitter users know, the site is rife with diversity, which is part of what makes it so endearing. Where else can you get high school emo, inane marketing advice, and shameless self promotion all in one place? Well, maybe Facebook. But Facebook feels so stuffy when compared with Twitter's laid back atmosphere. And the 140 character limit practically forces people to dream up exciting and irritating ways to convey their deepest thoughts.

Perhaps the most amusing aspect of Twitter stems from reading celebrity tweets, especially those supposedly written by politicians. John McCain somehow magically manages an account, despite the fact that just 2 years ago he publically admitted to having never sent an email. His technological progress is simply awe inspiring. Speaking of worthless politicians, there's been a degree of controversy surrounding the fact that nearly every legislator uses Twitter to some extent. Naturally, most of what you see on their profile pages is actually written by staff members and interns, although there are a few notable exceptions. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor sees nothing inappropriate about Tweeting on the House floor. He makes watching C-Span look like an episode of Intervention: The Smartphone Edition. What's even sweeter about Cantor's dirty Twitter habit is the fact that this "fiscal conservative" believes tweeting represents a valuable use of taxpayer dollars.

Now I'm not inherently opposed to the idea of elected officials utilizing Twitter to communicate with their constituents. For instance, I see nothing wrong representatives sharing news articles via Twitter or promoting charitable organizations. At the same time, Twitter's informal setting seems to be reinforcing the temptation to engage in unprofessional behavior online. It's bad enough that these people feel the need to run endless attack ads on TV. Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of these advertisements isn't to tarnish an opponent's reputation. No, politicians pull their gloves off to weaken voter enthusiasm and depress turnout, which undermines the democratic process.

Going negative strategies typify lackluster campaigns. Just take a gander at California Senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina's tweets. Her only hope of defeating incumbent Barbara Boxer involves making sure everyone but rabid Faux News viewers stay away from the polls. As such, her Tweets primarily focus on her adversary as well as her support for fellow repugnant Republican hopeful Meg Whitman. Judging by the number of followers Carly has accumulated on her profile, she should win the Senate race by a landslide. She's far more involved and adept at interacting with her supporters than Boxer, so perhaps her campaign can be seen as a measuring stick for Twitter's relevance to the electoral system. Then again, Twitter's most active politician is probably House Minority Leader John Boehner. He's not running for re-election at the moment, although his Tweets give the impression that he's planning on staging a coupe de'etat.