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21 Of The Smartest People On Twitter This Week

Fast Company Community Coordinator Peter Wade shares some tweets from the wittiest and most thought-provoking people he came across on Twitter this week.

21 Of The Smartest People On Twitter This Week

If you hate when your Twitter feed is dominated by one topic for days on end, like the government shutdown a few weeks ago, you had no such worries this week. Twitter ran the gamut, from political scandals and a big sports controversy, to impactful tech and business news–most notably Twitter’s own IPO. So, without further ado, let’s get to some of the tweets that caught my eye this week.

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Most Americans began the week by gaining an extra hour on Sunday, but losing the late evening sun as daylight savings ended. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is pretty sure aliens would think this practice was strange.

Strange or not, find out how you can be more productive when your body thinks it’s bedtime.

Over the weekend, rumors emerged that Miami Dolphins left tackle Jonathan Martin abruptly left the team last week because of teammate Richie Incognito’s bullying. Some defended Incognito, claiming “hazing” is normal in the NFL. Outspoken New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle is anti-bullying–but thinks Martin should have physically fought back.

But MSNBC’s Touré noted the NFL should not be different from any other work environment.

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News that some Americans would lose their current health coverage under the new Affordable Care Act regulations sparked criticism of the president’s campaign pledge that those who have insurance can keep it. Joy Reid, Miami Herald columnist and managing editor of TheGrio.com, tweeted an interesting comparison.

Frustration with the Obamacare website continued this week, but comedian Michael Ian Black tried to put the issues in perspective.

Last week, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow alleged Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., plagiarized parts of his speech at Liberty University from Wikipedia. As the story developed this week, journalists unearthed more instances of possible plagiarism–including in Rand Paul’s 2012 book, Government Bullies–and snarky tweeters like Jezebel’s Erin Gloria Ryan, MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin, and American Spectator contributor John Tabin couldn’t resist.

It was election day for some Americans on Tuesday, and Vice President Joe Biden was making the typical congratulatory calls to winners, except he kept dialing the wrong number when trying to reach Boston mayor-elect Marty Walsh.

Considering Biden’s reputation for gaffes, PBS News Hour reporter-producer Katelyn Polantz coined a new term to describe the veep’s comic missteps.

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But America wasn’t the only place fraught with political turmoil. After months of denying accusations he smoked crack cocaine, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford made a vague apology on his radio show Sunday. Globe and Mail media reporter Steve Ladurantaye noted the comedy in Ford’s assurance to constituents that “hopefully it won’t happen again.”

On Tuesday, Ford finally admitted to using crack cocaine. After that, the Toronto Star posted a video of Ford threatening to murder his enemies. Sun Media Canada’s Marie-Joelle Parent summed up the debacle well.

Thursday, Twitter debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, and unsurprisingly, there was no shortage of tweets on the topic. Fortune‘s Dan Primack thought Twitter was priced too low.

Anil Dash, cofounder of ThinkUp and Activate, joked about Twitter’s share price.

But the person who was most excited may have been nine-year-old philanthropist Vivienne Harr, who ran a lemonade stand to end child slavery and became a Twitter sensation. Harr was invited to ring the opening bell and spoke with us about the experience.

Bitcoin also shook up the market, breaking $300 per share Thursday. Parody Twitter account @Wu_Tang_Finance channeled Kanye when interpreting the news.

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Also on Thursday, the FDA proposed measures to nearly eliminate trans fat from the U.S. food supply. Comedian Albert Brooks found the timing of the FDA’s announcement unfortunate.

While lawyer Julia Pizzi was excited at the prospect of contraband trans fats.

In other news, Amanda Rykoff, of ONE World Sports, noticed that GoDaddy has made a dramatic shift in their advertising strategy.

Call of Duty: Ghosts launched at midnight on Monday, but freelance writer Melanie Renzulli remarked on the unfortunate timing, given the shootings making news recently.

And finally, we’ll end this roundup on a lighter note. This week, Miley Cyrus showed she can laugh at herself when she tweeted out this “Thanks Obama” meme.

[Image Flickr user Shawn Campbell]

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