Twitter has given millions of people the opportunity to express themselves.

It’s a fun way to connect with friends, follow celebrities, laugh at a meme, share some news and read spoilers about your favorite TV show. Time and location don’t matter. With the push of a button, followers can be privy to every thought, experience, pun and hashtag.

With this incredible freedom comes an increased need for a sense of responsibility. Extra caution should be used when a person’s feelings can be shared so easily with so many people.

This type of scrutiny means more than re-reading a tweet to check for embarrassing spelling errors. While they might not seem like much, those 140 characters can pack quite a punch.

Even though they shouldn’t, people will judge you based on the information you share via the Internet.

Think about this: If someone who never met you read the last tweet you sent, what impression would they get about the kind of person you are?

Even if you’re the type of person who doesn’t care what people think about you, consider the fact that more and more employers are consulting social media before hiring potential employees.

Do you really want someone who’s considering hiring you to read a tweet about how drunk you got last weekend?

If you are constantly negative, people will take note of that. If you consistently put others down, you might remind people of the elementary school bully on the playground. That being said, directly attacking someone while hiding behind a phone or computer screen is nothing more than cowardice and spite.

The Internet is already full of enough negativity, so try not to let that influence you.

It’s so easy to send quickly composed tweets into the realm of cyberspace without thinking about the consequences. Just remember that everything you say, in the real world and the digital world, says a lot about the kind of person you are.