The next time ‘Stupid Hoe’ comes on at a party, we can all feel a personal connection with Nicki Minaj’s lyrics.

The 29-year-old rap star began a Twitter battle Monday comparing Syracuse University’s Block Party concert to performing at CVS pharmacies and bingo tournaments, highlighting a bigger social media problem.

The controversial tweeting started after SU freshman Sabine DaSilva asked Minaj whether rumors of her performing at this year’s Block Party concert were true. DaSilva’s simple question clearly insulted Minaj’s refined tastes.

The singer tweeted to almost 10 million followers that she was laughing so hard about Block Party she was ‘crying real tears.’ Apparently, Minaj believed she was expected to attend a community block party with barbecued food and picnic tables. She didn’t realize DaSilva was actually talking about an event that has featured Nas and Damian Marley. Drake, who has collaborated with Minaj countless times, headlined the concert only two years ago.

Maybe Drake explained to Minaj what Block Party actually is, or maybe she noticed the many annoyed tweets, but the pop superstar did apologize. She tweeted: ‘Please accept our apology. *puppy dog eyes*’ after she sent 14 mocking tweets. SU publicly accepted the apology — obviously via Twitter.

Minaj’s public miscommunication on Twitter only highlights a bigger problem. It’s really difficult to say the right thing on social networking sites. There’s a huge possibility someone is going to misinterpret what you really mean. Whether that person is a pop star with multiple performing personas or your best friend, something’s going to get lost in translation.

A simple period becomes passive-aggressive punctuation. A smiley face at the end of a sentence is really the sign of a stage five clinger. Question marks become confrontational.

How many times have we all read a text message in a completely different tone than the way it was intended? We all feel silly afterward. For most of us, it’s a weekly occurrence. At least we don’t have to apologize to an entire university. That gets really awkward, really fast.

Celebrities need to remember Twitter can create just as many problems as bad behavior at a nightclub or scandalous comments during an interview. And even worse, celebrities are putting the information out there themselves. There isn’t any vigilante paparazzi photographer hiding in the bushes or media outlet to blame for improper quoting.

Twitter is one of the few outlets where a celebrity can share his or her opinions with fans. Managers aren’t monitoring content or feeding them 140 characters of family-friendly messages. So in the land of social networks, celebrities are responsible for the fallout they create.

Minaj isn’t the first star to make waves on Twitter for something like this. She won’t be the last, either. Earlier this week, former Disney star Miley Cyrus also angered her fan base. She posted a photo of theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss and included a quote by him with the phrase ‘forget Jesus’ in it. Many of Cyrus’ fans questioned her Christian values. One even offered to pray for her. Cyrus said she actually meant to remind her followers they were created from stardust.

Although celebrities deal with Internet drama on a much larger scale than everyday people, they can teach some pretty good lessons. Like, you should really know what you’re saying before you send it to almost 10 million people. When in doubt, Google it.

Ariana Romero is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every Thursday. She can be reached at akromero@syr.edu.  

Published on March 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm