Why Twitter Doesn’t Work with Sarcasm, Chap. 823

Don’t assume readers know anything at all about who you are or what you think. James Fallows on his Atlantic blog:

I have never before received anything close to this volume of response on Twitter, and it has never been more vitriolic. And all of it from people taking obvious (to me) sarcasm right at face value. Live and learn. I have learned that on Twitter, you cannot assume that you know the audience. In particular, you cannot assume that an audience beyond the one you intend will recognize the difference between sarcasm and sincerity.