"Twitter on the night of a large-scale national event — debates, the State Of The Union, election night — is the Cheers bar most of us don’t actually get to have in real life. It’s a place (or, more accurately, a “place”) where you can gather with like-minded strangers, sit back and kibitz. If the need to get in quick and keep it short leads to more snark and less value, well, that’d be true down at the pub too."