Real-Time Advice: Twitter gets credit for bringing about change. But for some, it also costs hunks of it.

By QUENTIN FOTTRELL

Sticks and stones may break bones, but 140 characters can do a whole lot more damage.

While Twitter can be a powerful social networking and marketing tool, hasty posts on site sometimes get pretty expensive. Misfired tweets have ended careers, led to huge fines, and most recently upended a murder trial. As reported this week in the Wall Street Journal, that case and others across the country highlight how Twitter and other types of social media are disrupting the jury trial.

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Here are five of the more regrettable tweets so far -- and the estimated hefty price tags that came with them.

Anthony Weiner tweets away his seat
Price tag: $174,000 salary, dreams of being mayor, president
Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman for New York, resigned last June after sending a sexually explicit photo of himself to a college student over Twitter.

Juror tweets, judge orders retrial
Estimated price tag: $600,000-plus
The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the murder conviction of a death-row inmate after a juror tweeted that the trial was over nearly an hour before the jury announced its verdict.

NBA fines tweeting team owners
Estimated price tag: $525,000
The National Basketball Association has fined team owners thousands of dollars for tweets. Last November, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison was
fined a reported $500,000 for commenting on the player/trade union bargaining process, which is a no-no for a team owner, according to NBA rules.

Spirit Airlines ad blast for $9 fares
Price tag: $50,000
Spirit Airlines tweeted about $9 one-way tickets from Los Angeles last June, but failed to mention the additional taxes and charges in its brief 140-character ad blast. In November, the Department of Transportation fined the Florida-based airline $50,000 for deceptive advertising practices. The taxes and fees were disclosed on the airline's website, but only after clicking on a second link. A spokeswoman for Spirit declined to comment on the fine.

CNN editor Octavia Nasr fired for tweet
Estimated price tag: Future earnings
In 2010, a 20-year CNN veteran, Octavia Nasr -- then a senior editor covering the Middle East -- was fired after sending out a tweet saying she had respect for Shiite Cleric Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. It read: "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot. #Lebanon" During his lifetime, Fadlallah was a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy and supported suicide bombings against Israel.

Read the full version here: http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/technology/5-very-costly-tweets-1331074668303/?cid=djem_sm_WeekontheStreet_h#tabs