Trial by Twitter
Last week saw a fascinating display of the influence of social networking, and how it harnessed its power to unify – and arguably lead – people to rally together if they feel that something is unjust.
Events kicked off last Friday morning (16 October) when the Daily Mail published an article by one of its columnists, Jan Moir, on the death of Boyzone’s Stephen Gately, in which she claims there was “nothing natural” about the circumstances of the gay singer’s demise, and that Gately’s death struck a blow to the “happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.”
It seemed even the consensus from the public was that the Daily Mail had gone too far, with the comments attracting overwhelming condemnation for being homophobic, bigoted and generally offensive.
Leading the online storm of protest were those most high-profile of Twitter advocates, Stephen Fry and Derren Brown, who between them have almost one million followers.
Indeed, the force of the public’s reaction to Moir’s comments was such that it forced the Press Complaints Commission’s (PCC) website to crash; companies such as Marks & Spencer decided to pull their advertising from the online edition of the column, and the Daily Mail quickly changed the original headline from “There was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death” to “A Strange, Lonely and Troubling Death”.
It also prompted Moir to issue a statement claiming there had been a “heavily orchestrated internet campaign” against her. This is a view backed up by an article in The Telegraph stating: “Twitter followers, attaching a Jan Moir hashtag to their messages, have been proclaiming all afternoon that this is their moment. Socially liberal new media reckon they have humiliated a bigoted, spiteful dinosaur (and embarrassed the Daily Mail, as well).”
Aside from the debate surrounding the nature of Moir’s views it would be hard to deny that the events of last week were anything but fascinating to watch unfold from a ringside seat at the edge of cyberspace.
The internet was harnessed in such a way that brought all types of people together with a common view. Yes, links were posted for people to register their complaints, but more than anything, it was word-of-mouth and the instant availability of information that spurred the events of the day.
In the words of Derren Brown: “Yesterday, first-hand, I saw Twitter achieve two apparent results for civility…Moir’s interpretation was wrong, and betrays a misguided notion about the nature of Twitter and similar forms of networking.
There is no orchestration – just the rapid spread of information. Tweets (posts) are passed on, word gets around, and when a Twitter giant like Stephen Fry mentions it, a million people hear and many pass it on themselves.”