Tales of hashtags and hashpipes ... reality vs. Twittereality

Watching these presidential and vice presidential debates has been very entertaining. Democracy at work? Maybe. Something about it feels, I don't know ... American? I know it's two guys spouting scripted answers to questions they've already answered to conference rooms full of men who help them craft answers that will help them appear to every possible demographic. I get it. I mean I don't, but I do.

But beyond my cynicism, which is sort of required by my employer, I still love watching the debates.

Which is why I was sorta bummed when, on the night of the second prez debate, I was sitting in bleachers of the pool at Minnesota State University. My daughter swims for West. And I never, EVER, miss one of my kids' events unless I absolutely have to.

Wanting to keep up on the debate, I kept my phone on. With my Twitter app launched, I prepared for what I was sure would be an onslaught of tweets.

Of course, they came. Like a downpour in a rainforest the tweets came. Binders of women, Barack lied again, Romney's got a new set of facts.

I was particularly drawn in when dozens of tweets proclaimed the candidates almost came to blows. I counted five tweets that used the work "fisticuffs" ...

All of this made me want to rush home after the swim meet to watch the debate on YouTube. So I did.

I grabbed a Schell's Firebrick, logged in and started watching. I really wanted to see what everyone was talking about. I mean, if these people had it right, there was very nearly a fist fight between two men who wish to be the head of the most powerful nation on earth.

Beer in hand, I watched.

When the moment came where I was pretty sure we were going to see some fireworks, pulled in closer.

What I saw was a couple of men arguing, walking toward one another. But fisticuffs? Hardly.

My point is that you need to be careful using Twitter for your information. It's entertaining, for sure. But it was miles away from accurate.