Twitter, as Bailey Martens recently examined, can be both a crucial tool for journalists and an anxiety-inducing hellscape. It’s perhaps not surprising that a medium that — more than any that has ever existed — stamps out the space between having a thought and publishing it to the world would result in a mixed bag at best.
As such, Twitter has no shortage of the virtuous and the reprehensible, of the inspiring and the depressing. But the very best and worst tweets are the ones that creatively reach these heights and/or depths. It’s one thing for a reporter to have terrible opinions about harm reduction; it’s another for him to take immense pride in kicking to death a “potentially rabid” raccoon. But we aren’t including that here, as not only do you deserve better than to stumble across such pics in your year-end, semi-comatose scrolling, but it wasn’t even his worst tweet of the year. (For the record, this was.)
With that in mind, here are the best and worst things that entered our bubble in 2019, in chronological and no other order:
CORRECTION: In the above tweet we erroneously stated that Moses Znaimer invented TV. Though Znaimer has a long list of achievements in his career, that credit goes to Philo Farnsworth. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/BashirMohamed/status/1091464913770360832
For the past month, every time I've walked past a gas station with my girlfriend, I've turned the price of gas into a spot for a fictional Ontario FM radio station pic.twitter.com/9BvCKEQiu4
— ℳatt (@matttomic) February 2, 2019
See you in court. pic.twitter.com/uXb1FwhWgD
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) February 12, 2019
Why does this cat look like gavin McInnes pic.twitter.com/azraMr4g6J
— slave to the content (@neonhegemony) February 15, 2019
I want an all-in-one death app that
– alerts a few trusted people if it seems like I'm dead
– if they confirm that I'm dead, notifies my wider network
– shares my will, funeral preferences
– wipes my googles
– posts my parting message to social
– outs all the perpetrators I know— fangmeli (@pangmeli) February 22, 2019
I would’ve never thought a sock that made me laugh so hard as a child would be helping me make sense of a very complex national crisis as an adult. Thanks dude keep rockin
— belinda says (@twelve_fiftyone) February 28, 2019
Our apologies. We crossed the line with an insensitive headline in Thursday’s print edition. We apologize to Alex Trebek and his family and wish him well in his cancer battle.
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) March 9, 2019
The trial is not about me, and I don't want to distract from it, or to take up the court's time. Neither do I wish to interfere with the court in any way. I told the judge I'm happy to take more advice from her, but out of defence I will no longer call the cops "pervy".
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) March 13, 2019
Fun fact: I immediately answered “the Funk” before realizing this is a Brexit thread. 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ https://t.co/vupxhemBHO
— A. Harmony (@AHarmonyMusic) March 14, 2019
the toronto star: desmond, we hold our columnists to the highest ethical standards. you need to act right or else
also the toronto star: pic.twitter.com/7CcvJI8y6M
— Negro Frolics (@DesmondCole) April 22, 2019
Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn is in Winnipeg to direct a movie. If you happen to see him and get a picture, please send it to the CTV Winnipeg Twitter, Facebook or winnipegnews@ctv.ca pic.twitter.com/pcl2VEUtrj
— CTV News Winnipeg (@ctvwinnipeg) May 13, 2019
On this International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a reminder to #BeKind. #IDAHOT #LGBTQ2 pic.twitter.com/gkTwvMg3Zl
— CSIS Canada (@csiscanada) May 17, 2019
Glad to see the young man turned his life around. pic.twitter.com/Vh9dl2GOb5
— Michael A. Balazo (@mbalazo) June 5, 2019
When you tell on yourself for finding your wife hotter because the life you've built together has broken her. https://t.co/9beG3UTSnK
— Nora Loreto (@NoLore) June 11, 2019
The government of Alberta's paper embargo form includes the statement, "I'm not a robot." #ableg pic.twitter.com/RwHQctIMbG
— Justin Giovannetti (@justinCgio) June 14, 2019
Never have clothes looked so new. https://t.co/JEw27dL7uZ
— Jeremy Woodcock (@jwPencilAndPad) June 17, 2019
‘I think it was him’: Yorkville resident says he may have seen Kawhi Leonard https://t.co/Tu2VuqPzgK pic.twitter.com/biHamIU90M
— CTV Toronto (@CTVToronto) July 3, 2019
Greens do politics differently. @kinsellawarren knows we have no "war room." Peace Room? Situation Room? Room of Zen? #GPC https://t.co/5EOQ8IJaJ1
— Elizabeth May (@ElizabethMay) July 12, 2019
I’m sorry about all the Green Party tweets but it’s just hilarious in real time to watch the Canadian political equivalent of a woman letting a raccoon with distemper into her apartment because she thinks it’s basically a housecat
— jump aside (@JodiesJumpsuit) July 14, 2019
The B.C. RCMP are giving a press conference on the two people murdered on the Alaska Highway, and they have the cat ear filter on. pic.twitter.com/j8GvkvKA4u
— Tyler Dawson (@tylerrdawson) July 19, 2019
I mean that’s a nice compliment and all and sure my first job in media was at the CBC and the first media company to have me on air was CBC but yes Jesse lets give you the credit for Columbusing talent pic.twitter.com/Om41IN0DuQ
— Elamin Abdelmahmoud (@elamin88) August 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/gmeanwell/status/1160975767444033540
Mr. Scheer, why are you and your children not wearing PFDs? Safety in boats is criticaly important.
— Marc Garneau (@MarcGarneau) August 17, 2019
No, we actually had a very good and productive meeting. Nice! https://t.co/aXeUWcPTc1
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2019
Solar panel spill releases almost 1000000 lumens of sunlight into environment
https://t.co/C9ut2LukKm via @TheBeaverton This story comes from an anti-solar activist. how can you be against the sun???— Hon. Sheila Copps (@Sheila_Copps) August 31, 2019
Says who? This poster was produced before the debate. Notice the colour of the sky. Another Scheer attempt to deceive. https://t.co/bcwUNysorJ
— Hon. Sheila Copps (@Sheila_Copps) September 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/sdbcraig/status/1174814859453747205
Mr. Trudeau, no! https://t.co/iOwceFvEQp
— Arish Singh (@arishish) September 20, 2019
seems like you could clean this up and take out the double-negative https://t.co/fjZXRpQzAE
— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) October 4, 2019
Trudeau Wins Second Term https://t.co/BZbvUF8R4d #WhatDoYouThink? pic.twitter.com/b9qQ9EH8Q9
— The Onion (@TheOnion) October 23, 2019
https://twitter.com/samelaanderson/status/1187535458005159938
On Remembrance Day, we’re inviting video game streamers to lay down their controllers, and #PauseToRemember our Veterans with a moment of silence online. If you’re a gamer and would like to join the movement, visit https://t.co/fJMoL8riLy to learn how. #Twitch #Mixer #Gaming pic.twitter.com/eK6cwINimr
— The Royal Canadian Legion (@RoyalCdnLegion) November 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/rtshrubber/status/1193531972087418880
— Library and Archives Canada (@LibraryArchives) November 18, 2019
And I stand with the Gamers 💥🤛🏽 https://t.co/wxGtaEFYJs
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) December 4, 2019
I stand with the Metalheads! https://t.co/6Mwk8DPkXS
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) December 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/sdbcraig/status/1202710180045164549
Journalists…? That’s a slippery slope.. https://t.co/XwyshMV06M
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) December 5, 2019
Is there anything wrong with that? Hotdogs are good. https://t.co/NPKVQlePcP
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) December 17, 2019
