Statement regarding my Twitter account

It has been brought to my attention that there are some who have been offended by my Twitter feed. I have been told that my actions on Twitter are causing “division.” I was not told who has been offended, so I can’t go privately to those people and resolve this. Therefore, I will publicly explain what happened and trust that the offended parties will see this. Upon reflection, I have concluded that I have retweeted and liked the posts of others that could be considered negative, and I sincerely apologize for that. I am endeavoring to be positive on social media and I want to be an encouragement to others.  However, the complaint I received appears to be based on screenshots of my account that are actions taken by people that I follow. They are actions that I did not “like,” re-tweet, or in any way endorse.  

This is a description of what happened. A screenshot of my Twitter feed was taken on Sunday morning, April 18. It was a screenshot of an email that was sent to Eddie Glaude, Jr., a man I follow on Twitter.  The screenshot was of a very hateful and racist email sent to Glaude and included horrible language including many insults and racial slurs. There is nothing on the screenshot that would indicate that I either “liked” or “retweeted” this post. It may have been placed on my public timeline to get more followers. Many times, there are random tweets that come up on my timeline that say, (for example) “David Stone follows Eddie Glaude, Jr.” and then shares a current post from that person’s feed.

Another important key to this situation is the timestamp on the email to Eddie Glaude, Jr. The screenshot shows the email was sent at 11:04 AM with no specific date shown. I have been accused of retweeting this tweet at 11:04 AM on Sunday morning because of the timestamp on the email. This is not possible as I was running a video camera during our Sunday morning worship service. I have looked through my timeline, my retweets, my likes, and I cannot find the screenshot of the horrible, racist email. I was not able to find the screenshot even on Eddie Glaude, Jr’s Twitter feed, so I am forced to believe that he must have posted the screenshot of the racist email and then took it down later in the day.

I did not realize that my Twitter feed was completely public by default (unlike Facebook) and that unfiltered tweets from people that I follow could show up on my timeline that I did not write, retweet, or like. I have since remedied this situation by locking my Twitter feed, so that only tweets I approve of show up on my timeline.

I have learned that I must be more careful with social media so that nothing is open to misinterpretation and cause for offense.  Finally, I have learned that if I see something out of character on a friend’s social media account, I need to go to them directly to discuss the situation. This is not my idea. It is our Lord’s instruction about what to do when we have a problem with a brother or sister in Christ. It is in Matthew 18: (emphasis mine)

15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

If you are ever offended by something I do or have a problem with me, please come and talk to me directly. I will listen with an open heart and an open mind. With God’s help, we can find a solution and grow closer in the process.  May God richly bless each of you and bring abundance and peace into your life.