Mr Starmer said: "I think that if there are too many investigations and too many cases coming to court then that can have a chilling effect on free speech.
"This is about trying to get the balance right, making sure time and resources are spent on cases that really do need to go to court, and not spent on cases which people might think really would be better dealt with by a swift apology and removal of the offending tweet."
He stressed that people who wrote libellous tweets, or messages that broke court orders or were threatening, would still face prosecution.
But he added: "There is a lot of stuff out there that is highly offensive that is put out on a spontaneous basis that is quite often taken down pretty quickly and the view is that those sort of remarks don't necessarily need to be prosecuted.
"This is not a get-out-of-jail card but it is highly relevant. Stuff does go up on a Friday and Saturday night and come down the next morning. If that is the case a lot of people will say: 'That shouldn't have happened, the person has accepted it, but really you don't need a criminal prosecution.' It is a relevant factor."
Last year, Mr Starmer said people who posted offensive messages when drunk and then took them down as soon as they were sober should avoid prosecution. But yesterday he stressed Twitter was not a place where people could "say what they like" without thinking of consequences.
Figures released in December disclosed that crimes involving Facebook and Twitter had risen by 780 per cent in the past four years, with about 650 people charged last year for offences on social media sites. Offences ranged from harassment to grooming and racial abuse.
Lord McAlpine, the former Tory party treasurer, is taking action against Twitter users such as Sally Bercow, wife of the Commons Speaker, over tweets relating to false claims he was a paedophile. He is suing Mrs Bercow and is seeking £50,000 damages after he was named online.
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