Treat Twitter with respect – ranting football club heir learns the hard way

I joined Twitter in mid-2008, only a couple years after the micro-blogging site launched. Like most of the early joiners, it started as a novelty. But today Twitter is a critical part of our news consuming and distributing process. We tweet relevant information, engage with those who tweet questions and embed their most interesting tweets in Biznews stories. During this time I've learnt to respect Twitter. Especially what's being sent from my @alechogg account.That's a lesson one David Sullivan Jnr has just learnt the hard way. The 17 year old son of the co-chairman of English Premier League team West Ham United, this week ranted to his 7 800 Followers about the performance of the club's captain and suggested its biggest star was goofing off by acting injured. @davesulley's comments were interpreted as a reflection of his father's views. As a result, all hell broke loose inside the club.

This time around, the playing professionals won the day. @davesulley apologised for his "moment of madness" and promised his ranting had nothing to do with the way his family feels. But it required an embarrassing public apology published yesterday in the UK's major newspapers –  and the promised he will never again tweet about the football club. A warning for us all.