This function will linkify your tweet messages from the Twitter API using include_entities=true

Parse Tweet Message to Link Entities

function parse_message( &$tweet ) {
	if ( !empty($tweet['entities']) ) {
		$replace_index = array();
		$append = array();
		$text = $tweet['text'];
		foreach ($tweet['entities'] as $area => $items) {
			$prefix = false;
			$display = false;
			switch ( $area ) {
				case 'hashtags':
					$find   = 'text';
					$prefix = '#';
					$url    = 'https://twitter.com/search/?src=hash&q=%23';
					break;
				case 'user_mentions':
					$find   = 'screen_name';
					$prefix = '@';
					$url    = 'https://twitter.com/';
					break;
				case 'media':
					$display = 'media_url_https';
					$href    = 'media_url_https';
					$size    = 'small';
					break;
				case 'urls':
					$find    = 'url';
					$display = 'display_url';
					$url     = "expanded_url";
					break;
				default: break;
			}
			foreach ($items as $item) {
				if ( $area == 'media' ) {
					// We can display images at the end of the tweet but sizing needs to added all the way to the top.
					// $append[$item->$display] = "<img src=\"{$item->$href}:$size\" />";
				}else{
					$msg     = $display ? $prefix.$item->$display : $prefix.$item->$find;
					$replace = $prefix.$item->$find;
					$href    = isset($item->$url) ? $item->$url : $url;
					if (!(strpos($href, 'http') === 0)) $href = "http://".$href;
					if ( $prefix ) $href .= $item->$find;
					$with = "<a href=\"$href\">$msg</a>";
					$replace_index[$replace] = $with;
				}
			}
		}
		foreach ($replace_index as $replace => $with) $tweet['text'] = str_replace($replace,$with,$tweet['text']);
		foreach ($append as $add) $tweet['text'] .= $add;
	}
}

PHP n00b here. Shouldn't I be able to just add this to my code and it work? Or do I have to implement it into my existing code? I have a page that retrieves tweets, like a custom widget. How do I use this to make the entities links, as it should? Put it in my page and nothing happens.