Have any of your tweets been taken down for "violating Twitter rules"? You're not alone. Twitter silences its users by permanently or temporarily deleting accounts, disabling "likes" and "retweets," and banning tweets (some of which aren't actually offensive to most. Going through my Twitter timeline, a large number of tweets have been banned for containing "offensive content" or violating Twitter rules. I've personally had a few tweets reported and I was forced to delete my posts.

For example, I once responded to a tweet about Kim Kardashian (one of those "check out Kim's new ride/glitzy new home/most recent plastic surgery" articles) that was displayed on a news site and I basically said, "Who cares, this isn't news, people are dying," etc.

My tweet was reported and I was forced to delete it. No curses or offensive content, I just disagreed with the content that claimed to be "news."

But this isn't about my individual story, it's about the fact that Twitter loves the control it has over its content. This power surge is dangerous to our society because Twitter can really lean any way they want, and it's scary because they have too much authority. This boils down to the issue of censorship. Regardless of personal beliefs, everyone should have the right to speak their mind.

Censorship is a real issue that needs to be addressed.

Censorship is the reason why we were not allowed to read so-called "banned books" in primary school through high school, with these books sometimes even banned in public libraries. Classic reads such as "Fahrenheit 451" (a book about the dangers of censorship), "Harry Potter," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Of Mice and Men," and others. Modern-day censorship includes social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and others.

Twitter has proven to be the modern-day epitome of censorship, as I notice my timeline including more and more "This tweet is unavailable." As a Twitter user, I'm sick of it. I don't care if it's offensive, I'm an adult and I can handle it.

In today's society, Twitter is no longer optional.

Twitter is used not only by celebrities, but politicians, journalists, reporters, and even our president directly uses the platform on a daily basis to communicate with the public. In fact, Donald Trump has replaced press conferences with tweets. Although highly controversial, it's not surprising that President Trump uses Twitter as a form of communication. Twitter is a direct source from the president without the need for lengthy press conferences that are up to the interpretation of the news media.

I called Twitter out on their censorship, and they stealthily disabled favorites and retweets on my post.

This is a video one of my friends sent to me while he was trying to favorite/retweet my criticism towards Twitter. Seems like Twitter was ironically offended by this tweet. In my opinion, if you don't want to be offended, don't use social media (and probably don't go outside either). The point is, maybe some things people say on the Internet are actually offensive, but you have the ability to unfollow/block someone if they are harassing you or you don't agree with them.

And then there are the considerations of banning Trump from Twitter.

OK, we've all looked at Trump's tweets and chuckled. If President Obama said half the shocking things Trump said, there would likely be a nationwide panic. I agree that a majority of his tweets aren't very informative and his inaccurate idea of "fake news" is embarrassing to most Americans.

However, some are entertaining the idea of banning Trump from Twitter and that's just not OK. If he wants to go on rants on Twitter, let him.

People won't discontinue their support just because he stopped using the platform. Not allowing Trump on Twitter would cause outrage from his supporters and would be detrimental to U.S. citizens. We would also no longer be able to get daily updates directly from the source, without having to rely on the news and media. In the future, I predict tweets will be printed in history textbooks and without this form of communication, it will be difficult to learn about the past.

My suggestion to Twitter?

It feels like every other tweet is banned from Twitter. It's disruptive and silences many who have opposing opinions. The mix of different opinions is what makes Twitter fun. Without the controversy, Twitter is losing its authenticity. If you think someone is going to lose sleep over a post, put a "sensitive content" sticker on it and move on.