"Dumb bitches don't drive jaguars."

The above statement came up in my Facebook News Feed on Wednesday night, accompanied by a link to a news article about Stephanie Rice's public apology, after she acted very unwisely on the internet on Sunday. The Australian Olympic swimmer tweeted "Suck on that faggots!" after the Wallabies won over the Springboks, causing a media frenzy, with ex-Footballer Ian Roberts calling her an "idiot".

Personally, I don't really care about her as a swimmer or a celebrity at all, but in looking at the events, I think she definately acted idiotically. Firstly, as an Australian sporting icon, she would have to have been aware that her tweet was capable of reaching people other than her friends, including the eyes of the media. For her to post anything at all on Twitter without seriously considering who can read it, and whether it could offend any of those readers, is an incredibly dumb thing to do.

While Rice has deleted the contentious tweet, the rest of her Twitter comments are still available for any one who wants to read them to see and she hasn't been holding back in terms of quantity. I don't really understand why some one with a public identity, such as an Olympic swimmer, would want to use Twitter to say things like "Happy birthday my best friend @laurauhlmann" or "HAPPY FATHERS DAY WAZZA". Maybe it's just me, but it seems that these kinds of  comments would be much better suited to a Facebook status update. What's the point of making them available to any one who wants to look for them, instead of them being on a private Facebook account? Especially if you run the risk of losing the support of fans and your flashy car if you present yourself as anything other than a morally upstanding citizen.

If I was her (or any other celebrity for that matter), I think I’d be too scared to tweet anything and I’d be making sure my privacy settings on Facebook were as private as possible.