Politwoops publishes all politicians' deleted tweets
A new Web site dedicates itself to making sure all politicians' deleted tweets don't get lost in the ether.
Ever wanted to know the deleted tweets of President Obama, Republican nominee Mitt Romney, or even your local congressperson? Well, a new site called Politwoops launched today that aims to collect and preserve all of those tweets.
"From minor typos to major gaffes, Politwoops is now there to offer a searchable window into what they hoped you didn't see," Nicko Margolies, communications coordinator at the Sunlight Foundation, which created Politwoops, wrote in a blog post.
Granted, most of the deleted tweets are not that juicy and the majority seeming to have been nixed for small typos. However, there are some laughers in there.
Take for example, Rep. Jeff Miller tweeting a link to a Facebook poll asking, "Was Obama born in the United States?" or Rep. Stephen Fincher tweeting and then deleting, "#thebachelor is a lot like the Hunger Games."
The collection of more than 3,000 tweets has been amassing for the last six months and includes individual searchable pages for every politician. Each deleted tweet also shows how long it was public before being deleted.
Although the site has a tongue-in-cheek aspect, it's clear that the intended purpose is to serve as an online watchdog of sorts during this year's election cycle. As Margolies wrote, "The Politwoops archive serves as an illuminating rough draft of how politicians and campaigns hone their social media messaging and amend their record."