How Twitter-addled is the New York Times newsroom? Well, it's gotten so bad that the newspaper's system administrators have cautioned the Twitter addicts against using their beloved Twitter syringe, "TweetDeck," to get on the microblogging service. It's crashing the system!

The Nieman Journalism Lab obtained an internal memo on the topic. It warns that some "computer performance problems that have been traced to TweetDeck," an application for accessing Twitter but not actually made by the startup itself. (At last, a microblogging tech problem Twitter can't be blamed for!)

It... takes a serious bite out of the performance of many computers, particularly older PCs.

We recommend against installing it or using it on Times computers.

Of course, Times writer Jennifer 8. Lee, known for her "conceptual scoops," was once again ahead of the pack on this one:

Always on top of the fascinatingly frivolous habits of the young, she is.


Full memo: