We’ve been using twitter for a while and have helped a few of our clients get up and running. Explaining the concept of twitter to someone can be challenging, and new users are bound to make mistakes.

Virginia GOP chairman Jeff Frederick used twitter to ruin his party’s chances of luring a Democratic senator to switch parties, shifting the balance of power with this tweet:

“Big news coming out of Senate: Apparently one dem is either switching or leaving the dem caucus. Negotiations for power sharing underway.”

Meanwhile, New York Republican Jim Tedisco used twitter to pull in nasty comments from his opposition directly to his website in real time. Tweets like:

“Will Tedisco Finally Reimburse Taxpayers Over $21,000 For His 20-Minute Car Ride?”

made it on his site.

Moral? Don’t use twitter to discuss secret negotiations and avoid publishing unfiltered tweets on your website if you have people that don’t like you.

[Thanks to Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo for spotting these gems.]