ESPN’s columnist Bill Simmons, whose @sportsguy33 account has 1.2 million followers, sent a tweet on Tuesday with two words: “moss vikings.”
That sent off a flurry of retweets and phone calls, as sports journalists everywhere worked to try to confirm that Randy Moss was traded to the Vikings. Some 30 minutes later, Simmons deleted the tweet and followed up saying that it was an accident. “Sorry that last tweet was supposed to be a DM,” he tweeted, adding a bit later, “Hate passing along rumors, that’s why I was DM-ing for info.”
Sorry that last tweet was supposed to be a DM. Rumors swirling about a Pats-Minny trade for Randy Moss.
Bill Simmons
sportsguy33
This could be a plausible explanation — although others question it — because journalists are increasingly using the direct messaging (DM) feature to probe sources for news, which of course, often starts with rumors. Confusing tweets with DMs happens often enough, and it can be quite embarrassing. In this case, it broke a huge NFL story. Accidently.
Simmons says he plans to explain all about it in his Friday column.
