That's why I personally like Twitter.

1. There is no private (there is, but ignore that)

2. Choose a topic to post about. Further that and none else.

3. Post topical discussions only.

4. Don't involve yourself in screeds. There will be a sentence that is taken out of context.

Doing these creates a really cool group over $thing. And that positive attraction pulls more in :)

This is the good side of social media: connecting people with similar interests from around the world.