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The power of social media can be a double-edged sword. As quickly as it can build you up, it can bring you right back down. But don't take our word for it: Here are the 10 worst Twitter disasters.![Anthony Weiner]()
Congressman Anthony Weiner The New York Democrat has finally admitted that he tweeted a photo of his nether regions to a young woman. "This was me doing a dumb thing and doing it repeatedly and lying about it," the 46-year-old said a week after the scandal unfolded.![Congressman Anthony Weiner topless Twitter Photo]()
Weinergate grew when the website BigGovernment.com posted photos, including this one, purportedly from a second woman who said she received shirtless shots of the congressman. The site said the pictures were in a cache of intimate online photos, chats and email exchanges the woman claimed to have.![Britney Spears]()
Pop Star Britney Spears Being an uber-celeb makes your Twitter feed a high-profile hacker target. Just ask Britney Spears who's had her micro-blog taken over twice in the last few years. For example, in June 2009, her Twitter feed pronounced her dead.![Britney Spears Twitter]()
Britney, Hacked More recently, the Top 10 Twitter power user again fell prey to malicious cybersneaks. This time they turned Britney into a Satan-worshiper. The pop star could probably do with a better web security team.![Mike Bacsik]()
MLB Pitcher Mike Bacsik When you're with the boys, sometimes you can get away with some politically incorrect banter. But when you post it on Twitter, you invite Internet scrutiny -- as former Washington National's pitcher Mike Bacsik found out the hard way.![Mike Bacsik Twitter]()
Drunk Tweeting Bacsik became a radio producer in Texas after baseball. In April 2010, he claimed to be drunk at a bar and watching the Mavericks lose Game 4 of their NBA playoff series when he began sending disparaging tweets like this one, even threatening to blow up the NBA's offices. He was promptly fired.![Jeff Frederick]()
Politician Jeff Frederick Frederick, head of Virginia's Republican Party, understands the power of Twitter all too well. Frederick succumbed to the tantalizing allure of the 140-character microblogging site.![Jeff Frederick Twitter]()
Itchy Trigger Finger? In Virginia, where the Democrats held a 21-19 majority, the GOP had been quietly trying to sway one Democrat to switch sides. A little too giddy about the potential powerplay, Frederick let slip the details on Twitter -- allowing the Dems to step in and rectify their confused comrade.![Mark Cuban]()
Entrepreneur Mark Cuban A tech-savvy entrepreneur notorious for his outspoken behavior, Twitter always seemed the perfect soapbox for NBA franchise owner Mark Cuban.![Mark Cuban Twitter]()
The Most Expensive Tweet The Mavericks owner was fined $25,000 in 2009 after raging about the refs on Twitter, when his team lost to the Denver Nuggets 103-101. Twitter, it seems, can be an expensive habit.![Skittles]()
Fruit-Flavored Candy Skittles Clearly underestimating the number of trolls on the Internet, the marketing execs behind Skittles felt it would be a great ploy to make www.skittles.com a Twitter feed -- to see what the world was saying about the candy.![Skittles Twitter]()
Tweet The Rainbow Once the web's mischief-makers got wind of the concept, they had much to say -- making Skittles.com a very family-unfriendly destination.![David George-Cosh]()
Reporter David George-Cosh There's a saying about about fighting in public -- and on the Internet. It seems David George-Cosh hadn't heard of it when he had a complete public meltdown on Twitter.![David George-Cosh Twitter]()
Twitter Meltdown The National Post technology reporter let loose on April Dunford, a marketing consultant. Post would later apologize for the rant. George-Cosh was lucky enough to keep his job.![Connor Riley]()
Job-Seeker Connor Riley If you're looking for a job, take note: employees now check everything. Connor Riley found out the hard way. Contemplating an opportunity, she went to Twitter to discuss things. "Cisco just offered me a job," she tweeted. "Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work."![Connor Riley Twitter]()
"Cisco Fatty" Cisco promptly responded, noting that they're also on the Internet -- that means Twitter too. Riley was quickly dubbed "Cisco Fatty," lost her job offer and shot to Internet fame for all the wrong reasons.![Habitat UK]()
Furniture-Maker Habitat UK Twitter is a great way to market your company and get the word out. But there's a right way to do it -- and a wrong way. "Hashtags" are a way to label tweets about a certain subject. In mid-2009, Habitat started using popular hashtags that were completely irrelevant to furniture -- at one point even trying to piggyback off the Iranian election.![Habitat UK Twitter]()
Twitter Spam The backlash was fast and furious. "@HabitatUK really need to clean up their act. Not what you'd expect from an otherwise classy brand," Rachel Andrew tweeted. "@HabitatUK Spamming news of important events. You must be so proud," tweeted another user. The comany eventually apologized for its behavior, promising to be a more upstanding Twitterer.![Kim Kardashian Cat]()
Reality Star Kim Kardashian Keeping up with the Twitter game is the obligation of any self-respecting celebrity -- and Kim Kardashian, who has over 6 million followers, is no different. That means 6 million watchful fans were ready to scrutinize her every move, such as this picture Kardashian posted of her holding a cat.![Kim Kardashian Twitter]()
Animal Cruelty Kardashian was duly lambasted by the fans and animal protection activists alike for her mishandling of the poor black kitty.![Kenneth Cole]()
Fashion Designer Kenneth Cole The anti-government protests in Egypt are serious business. Kenneth Cole saw them as an opportunity for a serious business boost.![Kenneth Cole Twitter]()
Too Soon People were not pleased, criticizing the American fashion designer for being insensitive. A fake Kenneth Cole Twitter account even cropped up, with an entire line of mock tweets: "People of Australia: Water up to your ankles? We've got your Kenneth Cole capris right here! The company quickly apologized, stating: "Re Egypt tweet: we weren't intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment --KC"Massive Fail: Top Twitter Catastrophes
A lot can go wrong in 140 characters. Publicity nightmares, lost jobs and expensive fines are just some of the consequences of the most epic Twitter fails to date.
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- Massive Fail: Top Twitter Catastrophes
