Why Politics and Twitter Don’t Always Mix

By | Posted on March 6th, 2014
David Cameron: That tea is about to be spat all over his screen (Press Association via AP Images)

David Cameron, a phone, the intenet and a soon-to-be-spluttered-all-over-the-desk cup of tea (Press Association via AP Images)

Social media is fun, isn’t it? You get to say stuff, other people get to reply, there’s jokes, repetition, snark and righteous fury in equal measure, and no matter how much you feel you are in control of a message, somehow it always gets biffed into a new shape.

And this is not something you can avoid if you happen to be in charge of the Twitter feed of a prominent politician—say the leader of a powerful nation, in talks about an international crisis—as the person running British Prime Minister David Cameron’s social media found out yesterday.

This tweet went up yesterday, to illustrate a firm hand in international affairs:

Which prompted the following response from the American comedian Rob Delaney:

  Which in turn led to this, from Sir Patrick Stewart:

And before you know it, a thing has been born, prompting all this:

 

 

 

And of course…

See more:
Patrick Stewart Channels an “Average American” on ‘The Colbert Report’
Funny British Adverts That Give Super Bowl Commercials a Run for Their Money
Watch: Sir Patrick Stewart’s Olympian (And Dickensian) London Games Skit
Photos: 70 Years of Prime Ministers and Their Spouses

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Fraser McAlpine

Fraser McAlpine

Fraser has been writing and broadcasting about music and popular culture for over 15 years, first at the Top of the Pops website, and most recently for the NME, Guardian and MSN. He also wrote BBC Radio 1's Chart Blog and reviews albums for BBC Radio 2. He is Anglophenia's current resident Brit, blogging about British slang and running around the Mall taking snaps of the crowd at the Royal Wedding, as well as reigniting a childhood passion for classic Doctor Who and cramming as much music in as he can manage. Fraser invites you to join him on Twitter: @csi_popmusic
View all posts by Fraser McAlpine.