For years this has been one of the headaches around email – using 'reply to all' to pummel bystanders' inboxes with fyi, cya, and increasingly irrelevant banter as conversations play out.  I chose it as the name of this blog for that reason.  A blog, to me, is a reply to anyone and everyone who cares to read it so I thought it fit. 

Now that Twitter is all the rage and more folks are using it, I am witnessing the evolution of the accidental reply to all.  It comes in the form of the accidental exclusion of the "d" in front of a Twitter handle or  selecting the wrong button in one of any number of Twitter readers (like Tweetdeck).  A message intended for one person is instead broadcast to the entire Twitter universe.

Twitter is an open forum and direct messages should not be assumed to be private.  I'm not being paranoid, I'm just being practical.  Got something sensitive to say?  Send an email or, better yet, pick up the phone and use your voice.  A bit more effort, but certainly more personal.