Twitter sure is fun. It's a great way to get information and communicate with others. It's also a platform for people to be really, really stupid.
Sometimes people forget that their tweets aren't being broadcast to just their friends, but the whole world.
Japan isn't unique in having stupid folks online. Wherever there are people and Twitter users, there are dumb Twitter users. Idiots are universal!
However, Japan does have a word to describe moronic Twitter users: "Bakattaa" (バカッター). As previously mentioned, "bakattaa" is wordplay on "Twitter" and the Japanese for "stupid", which is "baka" (馬鹿 or バカ). These are tweets that often have the Twitter user confess to things that could get them in trouble, such as underage drinking or even crime.
Many of these tweets were retweeted thousands of times. Sometimes, internet users even use the tweets to report said crimes to the cops.
Relatively speaking, Japan is safe. Thus, even the stupidest petty crime seems all the worse—and admitting that you've committed said petty crime seems all the more dumb. Stealing is bad, but considering how strict Japanese traffic laws are, it's especially dumb to drive without a license.
Here is a roundup of some of Japan's most memorable stupid tweets from bulletin board 2ch and various Japanese blogs and websites. Names and faces censored, because sometimes we all are idiots.
"I stole a geeky classmate's wallet! I can have a drinking party!" Um, yay?
"I'm destroying the restroom, hahaha." (This Twitter user then tweeted out that the restroom has since been repaired, and apologized for the damage.)
"I stole a DS from the classroom lol. Because it had Pokémon: Black 2 and Pokémon: Ruby with it, I'm now going to head to the GEO game shop and resell them." Don't worry, your secret is safe with the entire internet.
"Driving without a license now. It sure is scary." It sure is.
"I took home this bag someone left on the train! lol There were like, new smartphones in it lulz" Like, wow.
Lighting money on fire. Which apparently isn't a crime in Japan, but it sure is stupid! Expensive, too.
"Today at McDonald's, a stupid junior high school student on summer vacation left out a wallet, so I stole only the cash lol" Phew. At least you left the other stuff.
"Yu doesn't have a license lol" Yu isn't wearing her seatbelt, either.
The tweet that accompanied this pointed out that the woman on the left got in a hit-and-run accident, but that she is "totally cute." Because, really, what's committing crimes when someone is totally cute?
So, if you use Twitter, try not to be an idiot, and if you do end up committing crimes, be attractive!
今日電車の忘れられたカバン拾った！ [Togetter]
ゆっちゃん無免w [キター]
「無免なうです こわいがな！ 免許はよとれよな～」→ ネットユーザーが警察に通報か [Minkara]
また馬鹿発見器発動したぞｗｗｗｗｗ [ついっぷる]
バカッターで千円札燃やしてるバカがいるぞ！！ [もみあげチャ～シュ～]
バカッター画像 まとめ [Naver]
バカッターのガキがトイレ破壊ｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ [スコール]
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