Twitter has become a news source all its own, and the quality of our communication as a country has suffered for it..

In reading about the dismissal of Rex Tillerson from the president’s cabinet, the line that stood out to me the most was that “The biggest shakeup of Trump’s Cabinet since he took office  in January 2017 was announced by the president on Twitter …”

“The biggest shakeup of Trump’s Cabinet since he took office  in January 2017 was announced by the president on Twitter …”

Forget about the politics. Forget about who is right. Forget about whether Rex Tillerson was good at his job. Other commentators can sort that out in their own spaces.

Twitter.

That’s the medium most often used for sharing one-liners and zingers. People use it for super quick updates about many important and unimportant topics. It’s used commonly for sharing pictures, short videos and links to news and trivia. Even after its recent increase in the character limit, that’s about all the space the platform allows.

I like Twitter. I enjoy following news sites, sports sites and various friends over this medium. I love taking a friendly jab at people, at times. I love seeing live updates on sports and being alerted to breaking news from trusted news sources. You may be reading this because you saw a link on Twitter.

But watching this medium turn into an actual source for news is frightening.

Any message that’s important enough to share — and the firing of one of the most powerful people in Washington D.C. certainly qualifies — deserves to be shared in the appropriate context.

Short, choppy messages on a platform that allows only for short, choppy replies communicates to the readers that they aren’t important enough for a full explanation. It says they don’t matter.

The message over the best medium and the right moment all contribute to successful communication.

Using the wrong medium can destroy an otherwise excellent message.

Communicators should always strive to make their messages matter. That means they must consider the words they choose AND how and when they convey those words.