title: Ruby JSON.parse returns an Array
body: <p>I'm trying to parse a JSON string that I received from Twitter as a response via the RESTful API.  I wanted to use the JSON gem, but I've run into an issue.  Per the documentation, it appears that the JSON parser returns a Hash, which is what I want.  However, when I actually perform the JSON.parse(twitter_result.body), it returns an Array.  How can I get the JSON parser to return a Hash?</p>
  
  <p>This is the parser I am using: <a href="http://www.ruby-doc.org/stdlib-1.9.3/libdoc/json/rdoc/JSON.html#method-i-parse">http://www.ruby-doc.org/stdlib-1.9.3/libdoc/json/rdoc/JSON.html#method-i-parse</a></p>
  
  <p>"Pretty" JSON output example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>[
    {
      "created_at": "Sun Dec 08 13:00:52 +0000 2013",
      "id": 409668902189137920,
      "id_str": "409668902189137920",
      "text": "\"All the people departed, and David went home to bless his household.\" 1 Chron. 16:43. Big meeting. Blessed home. Both.",
      "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://www.hootsuite.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;HootSuite&lt;/a&gt;",
      "truncated": false,
      "in_reply_to_status_id": null,
      "in_reply_to_status_id_str": null,
      "in_reply_to_user_id": null,
      "in_reply_to_user_id_str": null,
      "in_reply_to_screen_name": null,
      "user": {
        "id": 27500565,
        "id_str": "27500565",
        "name": "John Piper",
        "screen_name": "JohnPiper",
        "location": "Minneapolis, MN",
        "description": "Founder-Teacher, Desiring God, Chancellor, BCS. Spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.",
        "url": "http://t.co/qt1rUlRfdl",
        "entities": {
          "url": {
            "urls": [
              {
                "url": "http://t.co/qt1rUlRfdl",
                "expanded_url": "http://www.desiringgod.org",
                "display_url": "desiringgod.org",
                "indices": [
                  0,
                  22
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          "description": {
            "urls": [
  
            ]
          }
        },
        "protected": false,
        "followers_count": 564749,
        "friends_count": 107,
     [
    {
      "created_at": "Sun Dec 08 13:00:52 +0000 2013",
      "id": 409668902189137920,
      "id_str": "409668902189137920",
      "text": "\"All the people departed, and David went home to bless his household.\" 1 Chron. 16:43. Big meeting. Blessed home. Both.",
      "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://www.hootsuite.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;HootSuite&lt;/a&gt;",
      "truncated": false,
      "in_reply_to_status_id": null,
      "in_reply_to_status_id_str": null,
      "in_reply_to_user_id": null,
      "in_reply_to_user_id_str": null,
      "in_reply_to_screen_name": null,
      "user": {
        "id": 27500565,
        "id_str": "27500565",
        "name": "John Piper",
        "screen_name": "JohnPiper",
        "location": "Minneapolis, MN",
        "description": "Founder-Teacher, Desiring God, Chancellor, BCS. Spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.",
        "url": "http://t.co/qt1rUlRfdl",
        "entities": {
          "url": {
            "urls": [
              {
                "url": "http://t.co/qt1rUlRfdl",
                "expanded_url": "http://www.desiringgod.org",
                "display_url": "desiringgod.org",
                "indices": [
                  0,
                  22
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          "description": {
            "urls": [
  
            ]
          }
        },
        "protected": false,
        "followers_count": 564749,
        "friends_count": 107,
        "listed_count": 9225,
        "created_at": "Sun Mar 29 20:48:44 +0000 2009",
        "favourites_count": 20,
        "utc_offset": -21600,
        "time_zone": "Central Time (US &amp; Canada)",
        "geo_enabled": true,
        "verified": true,
        "statuses_count": 7906,
        "lang": "en",
        "contributors_enabled": false,
        "is_translator": false,
        "profile_background_color": "570000",
        "profile_background_image_url": "http://a0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/38963234/jp_twitter_1920x1200_b_2.jpg",
        "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/38963234/jp_twitter_1920x1200_b_2.jpg",
        "profile_background_tile": false,
        "profile_image_url": "http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1563845055/2010fallJPmug_normal.jpeg",
        "profile_image_url_https": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1563845055/2010fallJPmug_normal.jpeg",
        "profile_link_color": "5C0606",
        "profile_sidebar_border_color": "000000",
        "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "CCC2A3",
        "profile_text_color": "000000",
        "profile_use_background_image": true,
        "default_profile": false,
        "default_profile_image": false,
        "following": true,
        "follow_request_sent": false,
        "notifications": false
      },
      "geo": null,
      "coordinates": null,
      "place": null,
      "contributors": null,
      "retweet_count": 20,
      "favorite_count": 31,
      "entities": {
        "hashtags": [
  
        ],
        "symbols": [
  
        ],
        "urls": [
  
        ],
        "user_mentions": [
  
        ]
      },
      "favorited": false,
      "retweeted": false,
      "lang": "en"
    }
  ]   "listed_count": 9225,
        "created_at": "Sun Mar 29 20:48:44 +0000 2009",
        "favourites_count": 20,
        "utc_offset": -21600,
        "time_zone": "Central Time (US &amp; Canada)",
        "geo_enabled": true,
        "verified": true,
        "statuses_count": 7906,
        "lang": "en",
        "contributors_enabled": false,
        "is_translator": false,
        "profile_background_color": "570000",
        "profile_background_image_url": "http://a0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/38963234/jp_twitter_1920x1200_b_2.jpg",
        "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/38963234/jp_twitter_1920x1200_b_2.jpg",
        "profile_background_tile": false,
        "profile_image_url": "http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1563845055/2010fallJPmug_normal.jpeg",
        "profile_image_url_https": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1563845055/2010fallJPmug_normal.jpeg",
        "profile_link_color": "5C0606",
        "profile_sidebar_border_color": "000000",
        "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "CCC2A3",
        "profile_text_color": "000000",
        "profile_use_background_image": true,
        "default_profile": false,
        "default_profile_image": false,
        "following": true,
        "follow_request_sent": false,
        "notifications": false
      },
      "geo": null,
      "coordinates": null,
      "place": null,
      "contributors": null,
      "retweet_count": 20,
      "favorite_count": 31,
      "entities": {
        "hashtags": [
  
        ],
        "symbols": [
  
        ],
        "urls": [
  
        ],
        "user_mentions": [
  
        ]
      },
      "favorited": false,
      "retweeted": false,
      "lang": "en"
    }
  ]
  </code></pre>