"Orphan take" is a brilliant term. Though I could really use a term for the (I think related) phenomenon of people tweeting "Look at X's latest piece in which they say Evil Thing Y!" when the piece in question explicitly says "I am not saying Evil Thing Y, but rather superficially-similar thing Z..."
I've been pondering this too. My Google page gives me suggested news items, half a dozen are obvious clickbait but have started clicking on a few out of curiosity. Then you read it's just a few random people on twitter have commented. News websites searching for stories driving this constant twitter outrage?
On Nazanin, the main issue here was not that she wasn't grateful, it was that she was deliberately ungrateful, also her incarceration was her own fault for going there and then she was complaining.
On Diane About, two things, there is a difference between a current MP (especially a shadow Home Secretary) breaking the law and people breaking the law when they were young and not a MP. Secondly, in what universe is it harder for a black or female MP? Diane Abbott is incompetent and has said racist things yet kept her job. David Lammy is a joke of a MP and keeps his positions and is the go-to person for the BBC, Sky and the Guardian for how everything is racist.
The actual research into attacks on MPs on social media has the male conservatives getting the most each.
Since your premises are wrong, the rest is wrong too. You should do some research and drop the victim narrative.
Excellent piece and a reminder that Twitter is not the real world but also I lurk on it to avoid the real world where I have work to do and emails to answer and birthdays to remember. But the handful of sane, rational people on there are like beacons in the darkness, so I stay, and my To Do list keeps growing.
"Orphan take" is a brilliant term. Though I could really use a term for the (I think related) phenomenon of people tweeting "Look at X's latest piece in which they say Evil Thing Y!" when the piece in question explicitly says "I am not saying Evil Thing Y, but rather superficially-similar thing Z..."
This is a legendary post which needs to be read by everyone. Great job!
I've been pondering this too. My Google page gives me suggested news items, half a dozen are obvious clickbait but have started clicking on a few out of curiosity. Then you read it's just a few random people on twitter have commented. News websites searching for stories driving this constant twitter outrage?
Many wrong takes here..
On Nazanin, the main issue here was not that she wasn't grateful, it was that she was deliberately ungrateful, also her incarceration was her own fault for going there and then she was complaining.
On Diane About, two things, there is a difference between a current MP (especially a shadow Home Secretary) breaking the law and people breaking the law when they were young and not a MP. Secondly, in what universe is it harder for a black or female MP? Diane Abbott is incompetent and has said racist things yet kept her job. David Lammy is a joke of a MP and keeps his positions and is the go-to person for the BBC, Sky and the Guardian for how everything is racist.
The actual research into attacks on MPs on social media has the male conservatives getting the most each.
Since your premises are wrong, the rest is wrong too. You should do some research and drop the victim narrative.
Quite funny to re-read this and notice the Susan Hall line. Those hot takes have led her to be the Tory candidate for London mayor 🤦
This is fantastic. Explaining the inexplicable. Thank you!
Excellent piece and a reminder that Twitter is not the real world but also I lurk on it to avoid the real world where I have work to do and emails to answer and birthdays to remember. But the handful of sane, rational people on there are like beacons in the darkness, so I stay, and my To Do list keeps growing.
Just excellent. I am relatively new to the wonderful world of Twitter and you have articulated the precise reasons for my unease. Thank you.
Spot on, Helen!
God, you're so sane. (Helen, not God, obvs)
This is a terrific piece with lots to chew on. Also - bonus - I now know who Susan Hall is. I think.