Twitter in review 2012: The good, the bad, and the very ugly
Summary: A look back at some of the successes and victories, the bad times and controversies, and the downright ugly failures by Twitter and by its users, during 2012.
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Israel tweets Gaza assault, dubs it #PillarOfDefense
The ugly: Things took a turn for the worst in the Middle East after Israel launched "Operation Pillar of Defense" against the Gaza Strip earlier this month. But it took the unusual step by tweeting the operation as it went along.
"The [Israel Defense Force] has embarked on Operation Pillar of Defense," the IDF's spokesperson tweeted on November 14. Within minutes, #PillarofDefense and #IsraelUnderFire started to trend on the microblogging site. The IDF Twitter account began to detail where the country was targeting and dishing out facts and figures on the ongoing operation.
Hamas, the ruling party of the Gaza Strip, also tweeted in return fire. Both using graphical propaganda, the conflict in the region was not just a war on the ground with rockets flying back and forth over the two country's borders, but also a war of words on the microblogging site.
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