TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD — A guy I like called Guy Adams has been banned from Twitter.  He’s a Brit in LA and he lost his head a bit when talking about NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

Now he’s really angry and much more popular than ever before.

Jell Immelt of GE knows his name.

Read about it by Twitter posts though and you’ll quickly be discouraged.

It’s messy.

And he’s not alone.  British female weightlifter Zoe Smith has found many things that hurt more than dropping 100 kilograms on your toe.

I’ll be honest, I can’t even bring myself to read about her trials on Twitter.

I feel for her.

And for that matter, for anyone caught in the maelstrom of fame or infamy online.  It’s like a tornado that touches down for an instant but leaves everything shattered in its wake.

What would you think if you were communications director or senior executive at an international corporation?  [Those of you who want to say 'stop banning journalists on Twitter and be honest', go to the back of the class.]

Twitter and much of the Internet remains a fairly hostile territory.  Zoe and Guy have ended up as overly publicised individuals online.  Imagine how that prospect frightens a business communications professional.

/df