Twitter Makes Bullies of Us All?
Comedian Ben Elton’s most recent offering ‘Live from Plant Earth’ hasn’t exactly proved a hit. Just 939,000 viewers tuned into the debut show and he didn’t exactly do himself any favours by discussing micro blogging and social networking website Twitter unfavourably on air.
In last week’s live episode, Elton referred to Twitter as “cultural cannibalism” and the users of the site (generally known as “tweeters”) as ”tw*ts.” ”Imagine if they had Twitter on the first night of Hamlet”, he continued before giving mock tweet examples of
“’Bored already. Lighten up you Danish b*stard” and “Oh, there’s a ghost in it; how lame.”
Users of Twitter took the bait and immediately started to “flame” Elton for his comments via hundreds of tweets. Examples of such tweets included ”I once had an ingrown toenail cut out. That was funnier than Ben Elton” and ”The ’80s called, they want their jokes back.” A newspaper journalist commented on this Twitter backlash a few days later, stating that the anonymity provided by Twitter is transforming us all into a gaggle of cyber bullies.
Ha!
This is not the case. There is a huge difference between flaming and bullying for starters. As the WWW is an ideal platform for debate, flaming has been central to the dynamic of the internet for a long time – often, a last resort for those failing to win an online argument through logistical means alone. Many people like to “flame” for the comedic reactions of doing so alone. Most users of Twitter also make very little effort to hide their identities. OK, most are not detailing their precise locations at every given moment but many use actual photographs of themselves on their profiles, which almost certainly detail the real names of the users who adopt “@” handles too.
I, for example, use @DeadBoomerang as my Twitter handle, but my profile does tell anyone who looks at it that my real name is Kat Cole (and also, that I am resident of Bognor Regis in the UK).
Twitter has basically offered celebrities and the common man alike the opportunity to bark the same opinions which would usually be confined to our living rooms or friendship circles alone. The vacuum is occupied by countless others (well, 190 million to be exact) and so many tweets get lost in the noise. Those same opinions would still exist, even if they weren’t being published on the internet in their 140 character glory. Any celebrities with the time to note every single negative comment regarding them have too much time to fill (meaning they’re likely to fall into the D list category of fame).
Anyone who sees Elton’s backlash as a form of bullying isn’t suited to use Twitter…let alone the internet as a whole.
Kat Cole is a secretary for a business specialising in Retallack baby friendly holidays but enjoys going to guest blogging and attending festivals whenever she gets the chance.
Posted in Social Networking. Tags: social media ethics, twitter
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