Do we need to be taught how to share our personal feelings with friends and followers on Facebook/Twitter? Apparently USA Today thinks so.

On one level this seems somewhat strange: it’s like being ‘taught’ how to write a personal diary by an over-pedantic English teacher (use “you are” rather than “you’re”). On the other hand, these pointers could help drive up the signal to noise ratio of life streams that often fall foul of the TMI (too much information) trap.  that is the bane of many a life stream.

George Orwell struck a wonderful balance by clausing his five tips to help writers, with a sixth:

“Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.”

The first commenter on the USA Today article takes Orwell’s dictum to heart:

“Just took a big ol’ dump.”