Brevity not the soul of wit

In the sincere hope that my children do not read your Letters pages, I must confess my bewilderment concerning your "Tweet of the week" feature. Not only do I not understand the concept or the technology of tweeting, I cannot fathom the criteria you apply when selecting which tweet to publish.

I would have thought that with your erudite and learned readership, we would be enlightened by witty epigrams, aphorisms, bon mots and apercus. Instead, the tweets are more like the irritating snatches of conversation overheard in a train carriage full of chattering mobile telephone users.

Unfortunately, I can't express this opinion in 140 characters or fewer so I am resorting to this old-fashioned mode of communication.

Jonathan Swan, Governor, Anglia Ruskin University.