For those of you who have yet to discover Twitter, I’ve got news for you: you are missing out. While I’ll admit I am no master of the tweet – mostly because I feel immense pressure to be witty when sharing my thoughts with the “twitterverse” – I’ve recently discovered Twitter’s ability to assist us in holding those in power accountable for their unfiltered, ill-conceived musings. As with all social networking media, Twitter demonstrates that effectively reaching audiences requires responsibility and restraint despite the fleeting nature of the medium.

Let’s take, for example, the case of Dane Deutsch, the recently defeated Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s 25th Senate District. In March, he felt compelled to share this gem with the world: “Hitler and Lincoln were both strong leaders. Lincoln’s character made him the greater leader whose legacy still lives on!”

If this comment doesn’t raise an eyebrow or make you exclaim, “What the expletive?!”, then perhaps you share the same warped perception of history as Dane Deutsch. Yes, strong may be an accurate adjective to describe Hitler’s leadership style, but so are brutal, elitist and atrocious. I’m pretty sure Hitler and Lincoln did not derive their strength from the same moral principles.

And by pretty sure, I mean I am absolutely certain that Hitler’s obsession with power and his desire to eradicate those who were different is the exact opposite of Lincoln’s strength of character, which kept the nation together and emancipated slaves. Regardless of Dane’s assertion that Lincoln was the “greater leader,” his comparison of the two in the same sentence warrants the scrutiny that came from Democrats in the weeks leading up to the election.

While Dane claims his comments were taken out of context, he neglected the first rule of social media – you get no context. When tweeting, you have only 140 characters to make your point. That does not leave much room for explanation. When using social media to propel your political career, your thoughts must be coherent and unable to be mistaken for anything other than your intended message, in this case, the perpetuation of Aryan ideals. The conciseness of the tweet is its blessing and its curse. In short, Twitter is unforgiving in its tendency to make foot-in-mouth moments public.

Although many of us experience such moments on the daily, for us plebeians, the consequences are not as great as they are for politicians. While a stupid comment from an average Joe may earn him the title of doofus, moron or some other non-G-rated insult from his friends, politicians jeopardize their careers with each viral misstep.

It would be a stretch to say this comment cost Deutsch the election given the closeness of the race and a variety of other factors that contributed to the outcome. However, that does not mean that one ill-received comment will not spell disaster for another politician in the future. As with all communication, it is best to take time to reflect before spewing out the first half-baked thought that comes to mind. In other words, think before you tweet.

Perhaps you lament that Deutsch did not have a few more characters to describe exactly what he meant in making the comparison. Maybe you can even conceive of a context in which the analogy would not be offensive.

But if you’re like me, you are probably put off that apparently Hitler was one of the first people that popped into his mind when thought of the words “strong” and “leader”. For me, that says enough about his character to eliminate him as viable option for candidacy.

Beyond amusement from some of the more hilarious feeds, (refer to Kanye West’s for sheer lunacy, narcissism and hilarity) social media like Twitter offer us yet another opportunity to critique those in office or seeking office. Politicians recognize that the demographic that is least likely to vote is also most likely to use social media like Facebook and Twitter, and will probably continue to reach out to us more and more via these communication channels.

Although this round of elections may be over, take this time to start gathering supplementary knowledge about future candidates. While social media should not replace more traditional forms of media when learning about the issues and deciding which candidates to vote for, they can give a more nuanced perspective of a candidate’s opinion. Although many accounts are likely managed by PR advisors, others may be raw, unfiltered thoughts of key politicians. Take some time to “follow” both politicians you agree and disagree with.

You may be surprised at what they have to tweet.

Holly Hartung ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and communication arts.