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Long time New York City sports radio personality Mike Francesa went on an anti-Twitter rant on his show yesterday.  He basically said Twitter is an inane online community for morons who have nothing of import to say (I’m paraphrasing, of course).  He went as far as to say Twitter should be banned.

I actually half agree with his assessment.  Once you navigate through the mindless hashtags, boring observations, and self aggrandizing celebrity blurbs there is some substance on Twitter.  The great irony is that the famous people with nothing to say have 10,000,000 followers while the lesser known people with a lot to say (in 140 character or less increments) have 679 followers.

Francesa also fears Twitter will cut out the middleman, broadcasters and reporters.  I disagree with that school of thought.  As long as there is a 24/7 news cycle we will need athlete interviews for filler.  Twitter is just a vehicle for athletes to express themselves without the dreaded follow-up.  If an athlete steps out of line on Twitter (see Larry Johnson and Rashard Mendenhall) the good old fashioned media will be there demanding explanations and apologies.

Much to the dismay of Mike Francesa, Twitter is here to stay.  At this stage in his career, Francesa relishes playing the role of the out of touch troglodyte who wants things to go back to the way they were.  He has a large platform and audience, but at some point he has to accept that the toothpaste is out of the tube and it ain’t going back in.

Agree or disagree, it was an entertaining rant!