Joining a host of other Twitter-inspired words, tweetheart is of course a play on the word sweetheart, which in more old-fashioned usage can mean ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ (e.g. They were childhood sweethearts), but is commonly used as a general reference to a person you love, especially a member of your family (e.g. Look after yourself, sweetheart). Though the most common sense of tweetheart is as described above (i.e. a reference to someone you like and admire on the basis of their Twitter activity), there’s also some evidence for more intuitive, conventional senses, such as a romantic partner who you’ve met or talked about via Twitter.

Joining a host of other Twitter-inspired words, tweetheart is of course a play on the word sweetheart, which in more old-fashioned usage can mean ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ (e.g. They were childhood sweethearts), but is commonly used as a general reference to a person you love, especially a member of your family (e.g. Look after yourself, sweetheart). Though the most common sense of tweetheart is as described above (i.e. a reference to someone you like and admire on the basis of their Twitter activity), there’s also some evidence for more intuitive, conventional senses, such as a romantic partner who you’ve met or talked about via Twitter.