Samantha Brick: Journalist at the center of a Twitterstorm
A spate of online spats has seen Twitter dominate mainstream media headlines. Is the social networking site a forum for self-expression or a seething sea of internet rage waiting to be provoked?
Grace Dent vs. Mufadal Jiwaji. “@gracedent reminds me of a girlfriend I once had. By girlfriend I mean that time I accidentally made love to an ugly abhorrent horse #hignfy,” tweeted Mufadal Jiwaji, referring to the Guardian journalist’s appearance on BBC quiz Have I Got News For You. So far, so unpleasant. But the tweet went viral after Dent replied suggesting Jiwaji’s jibe may cost him his job – and it emerged that he was employed by PR company Hills+Knowlton Strategies, which has worked with the high-profile writer in the past. Jiwaji apologised to Dent, who later tweeted that they had both “moved on”. But the spat divided the Twitterverse, with some accusing Dent of hypocrisy and overreacting, while others applauded her strong stance. And others saw the funny side: “I made a very unflattering clay statue of Grace Dent, and now she’s had it fired,” wrote @pundamentalism.
Samantha Brick vs. Twitter. Freelance journalist Samantha Brick wrote an article for The Daily Mail in which she declared that other women hated her for her beauty; Twitter responded with mockery, anger and a range of insults about her appearance. Online bullying or righteous anger?
The English Defence League vs. reality. Far-right protest group the English Defence League (EDL) scored a spectacular own goal after co-founder Tommy Robinson reacted to a picture on Twitter: “welcome to twitter homepage has a picture of a mosque what a joke #creepingsharia.” What Robinson had identified as “a mosque” was in fact India’s Taj Mahal. But what really grabbed Twitter users was the new hashtag and, as Bim Adewunmi pointed out in The Guardian, #creepingsharia became a rallying point for EDL mockery: “I skipped breakfast this morning. Clearly fasting subconsciously #creepingsharia,” tweeted @eoghan.
Football vs. Twitter. From the jailing of Fabrice Muamba Twitter troll Liam Stacey to prolific tweeter Joey Barton bowing out from the social networking site, Twitter and football have an uneasy relationship. Henry Winter argued in The Telegraph that Twitter is changing the nature of football coverage: “It’s not just enough to be there; many fans feel fully involved only when they have passed judgment. It’s X Factor on the terraces with tweets for texts… Everyone’s commentating now.”
