But especially, Twitter seemed dangerous. An anonymous desk worker, Czaban said, has little to worry about from the site; he can get sports news, ask questions, express opinions. A mega-celebrity is relatively safe, too, because mega-celebrities likely won’t lose their status over a single clumsy tweet.
But for the middling newspaper writer — or the sports-talk radio host who doesn’t shy away from controversy — Twitter is one more way to get in trouble, an often context-free zone in which a poorly conceived message can suddenly go viral and land you in some corner office before your second cup of coffee.
“Basically, it’s too damn dangerous for somebody like me,” Czaban said. “Brick-and-mortar companies that pay your salary treat Twitter as if it’s the highest form of communication that can ever be written. And it lacks context. People say you can still be funny, just be careful about what you tweet. Be careful, sure — but you don’t know the way something is going to take off. There’s something very dangerous about the viral nature of Twitter. … And so I just decided, you know, it’s just not worth it.”
