Twitter has become a dangerous place, especially for high profile individuals. Aside from threats of violence and profanities, quite a few have received a tweeted bomb threat. The latest victim is historian Mary Beard, who has lead a protest against Twitter for its slow action regarding threatening and violent tweets on the site.

The protest called for a boycott of the site but for those on the site, hashtags #Twittersilence and #connectwithrespect were trending. In response, Tony Wang, Twitter UK's manager as well as the social media platform's Director of Trust and Safety Del Harvey reiterated the use of the report buttons for abuse available on the site. The site, through its director, had promised action to be taken on the vitriolic abuse.

With all the activity, the inocuous 140 character social media platform has become not only a venue for the masses, it has also become a goldmine for its owners, According to a Wall Street Journal report, the seven year old firm's value is estimated to be between US$9 billion and US$10 billion.