Gov. Scott's Twitter Faux Pas

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has more than 34,000 followers on Twitter (@FLGovScott), a more than acceptable number in relation to the state's population (New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for example, has 73,400+ followers and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn more than 21,600).

What's strange about Scott's Twitter account, however, is the number and type of people, businesses and organizations he follows (click on photos above).

Where Cuomo and Quinn follow less than 400, Scott follows more than 25,000. Some are to be expected like Lou Dobbs, Team Romney and First Lady Ann Scott. Others are just plain amusing: Elephantsfarting, Oprah Quote, i have never voted, I'm a Panda and multiple colon cleansing businesses (is the No. 1 in the state obsessed with #2?).

There are the curious...

Scott, who The Palm Beach Post referred to as a "near teetotaler," follows Top Brass Vodka. And one certainly wouldn't expect a governor who rejected funding from the Affordable Care Act for programs including public education about teen pregnancy to follow Farrah Abraham, who appeared on MTV's 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.

And then, there's the just plain disturbing...

Of the Twitter accounts Scott follows, one is a a porn site—and not just any old porn site but a teen porn site. That's "teen," as in "teenager," as in "not yet an adult," as in "probably still in high school."

"Following," for those of you not familiar with Twitter, is not a passive process. In order to follow a person or company, one has to physically go to that page and click "follow." Scott's 34,100-ish followers, on the other hand, followed him without him (read: a staffer) lifting a finger.

Sure, we can give Scott the benefit of the doubt: perhaps his office uses some automated program that follows any Twitter account that follows him or his account was hacked. But someone on his staff should monitor everyone who follows him. Any offensive or questionable account should immediately be unfollowed, and the user should be blocked from following him. It's Twitter 101, people.

As it turns out, the governor's communications staff are as attentive to responding to phone messages as they are about monitoring his Twitter account. I have yet to hear back from anyone but will continue to call until I get someone in his office to offer an explanation and, I can only hope, express the same disgust that anyone who's reading this does.

Until then, the headline will read: "Gov. Rick Scott Follows Teen Porn Site on Twitter."

I wonder what Oprah would say about that.