This is not a smartphone related thought, but one which has some relevance because so many people follow Stephen Fry’s tweets every day. First up I have to say that I am a big fan of Stephen Fry and have enjoyed his books, technology related musings and his daily tweets which almost always bring a smile to my face. However, this story is one which I find hard to understand in the grand scheme of social networking.
Firstly, why does it warrant a place on a mainstream news site like the BBC? Secondly, when I looked deeper into the situation I realised that the offending comment to Stephen was “I admire and adore” Mr Fry, but added that he found his tweets “a bit… boring… (sorry Stephen).” That sounds quite inoffensive, and indeed it is, but it was greeted by this from Stephen Fry- “You’ve convinced me. I’m obviously not good enough. I retire from Twitter henceforward. Bye everyone.”
Initially I presumed someone had said something really dreadful and offered a message of support, like many others, but when I read the original comment I was a little perplexed. Stephen Fry does suffer from bipolar disorder, but I do wonder if this has much to do with his reaction or if it is simply the kind of reaction others may have in a low moment. I only say this because I have received negative comments and emails over the years through the website and at weak times it does make me evaluate why I bother which can result in an over-reaction to the original comment. I’m not comparing myself to Stephen Fry of course who must receive a billion times more feedback than I ever have, but the feeling is likely similar. The point is that Stephen had a ‘moment’ and things then started to get silly.
Why are other twitterers, or whatever they are called, insulting the person who made the first comment? What type of mob mentality ensued in an instant causing such inane hatred against someone who by all accounts is completely innocent? The response was so irrational and downright rude from so many people that it makes me wonder how some perceive virtual friends on a social network.
I love Stephen Fry’s work and agree that he is a national institution, but I do not know him and I will not be rude to someone else just because they were less than positive (not rude) about him. This may sound harsh, but the fact he has bipolar syndrome is somewhat irrelevant here.
He has 900,000 followers and chooses to pin his thoughts up for us all to read.
He cannot conceivably expect to please 900,000 people.
He recently wrote about Jan Moir- “I gather a repulsive nobody writing in a paper no one of any decency would be seen dead with has written something loathsome and inhumane.”
She deserved the comment of course, but no matter what the reason you cannot say things like that and then threaten to leave Twitter if someone makes one ‘boring’ comment. To be fair to Stephen he has realised that the response to the initial comments from others was silly, and he is not to blame either- everyone who abused the first person is.
Stephen Fry has put himself up on Twitter and thousands of us love the fact he is there every day to makes our lives just a little brighter. However, I for one am not going to tip toe around anyone who chooses to air their own thoughts so publicly.
Spot on Shaun. I think hes great but the big story it turned into is daft!