I've not been on Twitter for very long...its been a fairly steep learning curve which on the whole I am enjoying. But last night I was on the receiving end of an attempt to bully which is very sad and also worrying. I had asked an MP a simple question. She had posted a link to her blog, I had clinked on the link and found a sign- in screen. I failed to get into the blog and asked her why not.
This fairly simple question unleashed the dogs of war! The pro and anti participants in this small war are sharply divided. Some people immediately started to follow me. Others started to attack. It was like watching a gang of teenage girls decide to gang up on another one. Messages of support came in from some unlikely sources and after a few unpleasant remarks I realised that there was another Revjean. Whether she is real or a troll I have no way of knowing but what was surprising was the glee as other people started to realise what was happening. It was the sort of feeding frenzy you see in the newspapers and the last thing I would have thought I would have been involved in.
I am not sure what today is going to bring..I am fairly busy right now but I would be interested to know if the MP involved had directed the operations of the girls in their attempt to scare me off. I did hear from another two people that they had had similar treatment after asking the MP for information.
Strangely I always assumed that Members of Parliament were actually answerable to the public. Isn't that their job? By virtue of the fact that they have to be elected there are always going to be people who disagree with them. If they encounter dissent isn't it their job to answer the questions reasonably? By the way she called me grumpy for asking how to get into her blog!
I suspect all this is Twitter made and nothing to worry about so I shall get on with my day soon with my usual joy and energy. Good morning all .
5 comments:
Good morning Jean
I have been here too, but on the comments page of another blog - and when the crap hits the fan, it is unpleasant.
I am sorry that you have had to face this down - and it is to your credit that you do not name the public servant concerned. I too have learned that the pool that is Twitter is a saturated lake and when blood is let, a frenzy of fish starts. I love Twitter and I loathe it in equal measure - because meaning is lost in 140 characters very often.
I believe I upset my local MP with a sermon a couple of weeks ago (I cited the spending cuts) - that hasn't been pretty either.
Chin up, m'yole mate. If that person had an ounch of your dignity, parliament would become credible very quickly
The MP in question made a mistake. She posted a link on her Twitter feed, not to her blog as intended, but to the admin log-in page for said blog - not a clever move for such a contentious character.
You appeared, quite innocently, to query why you couldn't access her blog from this page - it wasn't possible, as far as I could see.
She probably resorted to name-calling as a defensive response to this. Whether she released her, ahem, "dogs" is a different matter. I think their involvement was strictly Pavlovian.
Don't worry it seems fairly common, you innocently write something that goes out into the public domain and it pinches someones toes.
I didn't get as far as ministry,but in my attempt, I have been amazed at the venomous and vitriolic mail I got about women in the church,and not just from men. You have to rise above it,and develope a thick skin.
And if you can't beat them, join them! I'm marrying the Minister in a fortnight..... I 'll get in there somehow! :)
Thank you all for this.....Toot many congratulations on your wedding...I hope it all goes well!
I appreciate all of the views expressed and I realise that what happened to me last night was nothing compared to what happened to some others. Maybe thats how they get their kicks!
The appropriate response to your tweet would have been "thank you SO MUCH for pointing out my mistake, I tweeed my admin page by accident, have deleted the tweet now and am very grateful to you, how are you? " ...
Post a Comment