A Twitter tempest brewed on the Ohio State Campus after a tweet aimed at the students who had to evacuate caused a stir.
Tweets are limited to 140 characters or less. While that is not a lot of room to say a great deal, it is certainly enough to get people talking.
Alyson Ezzone is one of the more than 1,000 Ohio State students forced from their campus homes this week by a water main break.
"I'm really happy that I have a friend here and I don't have to stay at the RPAC, it's not fun," Ezzone said.
Talk of the dorm evacuation was eclipsed by a tweet sent by OSU Wellness directed at students being sheltered in the RPAC stating, "Just because she sleeps next to you at the RPAC DOES NOT mean she wants the D".
"The D" refers to a slang term for male genitalia.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe they said that," Ezzone said. "Are they for real? Is this a joke?"
If it was a joke, plenty of people in the Twittersphere were not amused. While many approved of the tweet, others tweeted their disapproval saying the post went "too far," and that "rape is never good material for humor."
Niraj Antani tweeted, "Whoever is tweeting for OSU Wellness needs to be fired."
"For that to come from a university twitter account is ridiculous," Antani said.
In a statement, school officials stood by the decision to tweet the message.
"The tweets were in response to social media messages coming from students who were in RPAC, and intended to be similar in tone and spirit We have received a number of responses, and most have been positive. However, any negative feedback is a good foundation for reviewing our social media efforts in the future," the statement said.
Points everyone agreed with were the hashtags that followed the controversial tweet "Consent First" and "Be Safe."
Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for more information.
Comments