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The Twitter hashtag #NBCfail – about the American network’s Olympic shortfalls — is covering a lot of ground. But a key early frustration was the online viewing experience.

While some Twitter users reported intermittent updates via TweetDeck dashboard applications, the short-message website was down for many late Thursday morning.

Triple jumper Voula Papachristou was expelled from Greece's Olympic team Wednesday for her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party... Commenting on the widely reported appearance of Nile-virus-carrying mosquitoes in Athens, Papachristou wrote: "With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!". Her tweet prompted thousands of negative comments that snowballed Wednesday.

Once relegated to sleazy red light districts and the darker corners of the internet, porn stars are now gaining followings in a surprising place: twitter. They are using the social media site to engage directly with their fans and build their individual brands.

Everyone's made a joke they thought was funny only to see it fall flat, but Park Jung-geun's attempt at humor could see him jailed for up to seven years in South Korea. Park, a photographer by profession, re-tweeted some messages from North Korea's official twitter feed, such as reports on the late leader Kim Jong Il's travels across the country and negative tweets about South Korea.

Social media's quippy queen Kelly Oxford goes from tweeting to screenwriting on the strength of her posts, snagging a book deal and reeling in Hollywood fans like Jimmy Kimmel. From a snow-crested corner of Alberta, Canada, Kelly Oxford made her Hollywood screenwriting dream come true. She did it without leaving her close-knit family or giving up her free nationalized healthcare. She did it 140 characters at a time.

Looking to boost the number of followers you have on your microblog? In China, a country where face often trumphs all in social matters, there’s a quick though dubious solution.

China blocks access to the term "Shanghai Composite Index" on some of the country's most popular microblogging sites.

Those mediocre updates about choosing a food truck for lunch, complaining about work, or a link to the same viral video you saw a month ago: No, it’s not just you rolling your eyes and scrolling quickly.

A couple in Sanford, Fla., is afraid for their lives after a Twitter post said their address was that of George Zimmerman and urged people to "reach out and touch" the neighborhood watch captain who shot dead Trayvon Martin.