Because of the format of Twitter, it is very easy to see conversations (or Twittervations as they are known on Twitter) of other people. Now, most of the time, it's easy to just let most of the Twittervations go right by and not pay much attention to them. Every now and then, someone tweets something that catches your eye and you start to pay attention to the thread. This is fine.
A problem comes in when you jump into the middle of a thread without really knowing what the history of that thread is. Chances are, you are going to misinterpret something that was said. In some cases, this can turn to out to be quite amusing. In other instances, you will end up looking like an idiot.
If you are thinking of jumping into a thread or just reading a thread to mention to people later, make sure you really know what the people are talking. You know the saying... "What happens when you assume?" It's very true!
(OK- rant over)