THREAD: Ahead of my semi-retirement from Twitter tomorrow, I’m going to be self-indulgent & re-up some of the stuff I’m proudest of from these past 3 years. (Spoiler: nearly all about Brexit: a mix of observation, analysis, advice & scathing invective). [1/x]
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My time on Twitter has been a journey. I started out naively arguing for what I believed in, assuming our opponents were similarly acting in good faith. I’ve learnt a lot. Along the way, I’ve had fun, made friends, & valued the sense of community here when things felt bad.
My time on Twitter has been a journey. I started out naively arguing for what I believed in, assuming our opponents were similarly acting in good faith. I’ve learnt a lot. Along the way, I’ve had fun, made friends, & valued the sense of community here when things felt bad.
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There’s not much to say about my first 18 months on Twitter. For the first year, I was living in Japan so it was my way of feeling connected with the politics of my home country. I felt the looming EUref was big. I argued with Leavers, including Julia H-B & Louise Mensch.
There’s not much to say about my first 18 months on Twitter. For the first year, I was living in Japan so it was my way of feeling connected with the politics of my home country. I felt the looming EUref was big. I argued with Leavers, including Julia H-B & Louise Mensch.
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As a university-educated member of the liberal metropolitan elite, I was convinced that reason and common sense would prevail and that Remain would win. Little did I know... When the unthinkable happened, I was devastated. I still am.
As a university-educated member of the liberal metropolitan elite, I was convinced that reason and common sense would prevail and that Remain would win. Little did I know... When the unthinkable happened, I was devastated. I still am.
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Like many of us, I continued to make the case for UK membership of the EU: to explain why leaving was against our national interest & why (despite the propaganda stating the contrary) there was nothing undemocratic about advocating continued EU membership after the EUref.
Like many of us, I continued to make the case for UK membership of the EU: to explain why leaving was against our national interest & why (despite the propaganda stating the contrary) there was nothing undemocratic about advocating continued EU membership after the EUref.
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I returned to the UK for reasons unrelated to Brexit & remained active on Twitter. In April 2017, I tweeted a list of the reasons why Brexit is a terrible idea. It went a bit viral when James O’Brien retweeted it; my mentions went crazy for a few days.
I returned to the UK for reasons unrelated to Brexit & remained active on Twitter. In April 2017, I tweeted a list of the reasons why Brexit is a terrible idea. It went a bit viral when James O’Brien retweeted it; my mentions went crazy for a few days.
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As well as arguing why the UK should remain in the EU, I also started to reflect on *why* the result had happened and to pay closer attention to how the campaigns had communicated.
As well as arguing why the UK should remain in the EU, I also started to reflect on *why* the result had happened and to pay closer attention to how the campaigns had communicated.
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A key realisation was that social media was a crucial part of political communication in the modern era, and that most of us on the Remain side didn’t really get it, whereas key people on the Leave side (and their soulmates, the Trump campaign) did.
A key realisation was that social media was a crucial part of political communication in the modern era, and that most of us on the Remain side didn’t really get it, whereas key people on the Leave side (and their soulmates, the Trump campaign) did.
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Fast-forwarding, political communication has become something of an obsession of mine here. Put simply, those pushing Brexit have remained far more disciplined & effective (even when it *looked* on the face of it as if they were behaving erratically):
Fast-forwarding, political communication has become something of an obsession of mine here. Put simply, those pushing Brexit have remained far more disciplined & effective (even when it *looked* on the face of it as if they were behaving erratically):
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Another case study here. Sure: Dominic Grieve backed away from voting against the govt in the end. But here I catalogue some of the intimidation he was subjected to while publicly standing up to the Brexit juggernaut, and the manipulation behind it.
Another case study here. Sure: Dominic Grieve backed away from voting against the govt in the end. But here I catalogue some of the intimidation he was subjected to while publicly standing up to the Brexit juggernaut, and the manipulation behind it.
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So far, so earnest. (I know I can be a bit preachy.) But I tried to have fun too; that mainly meant ripping the piss out of the ridiculous, pompous, thin-skinned individuals who have promoted Brexit & brought ruin on the country, e.g. Daniel Hannan:
So far, so earnest. (I know I can be a bit preachy.) But I tried to have fun too; that mainly meant ripping the piss out of the ridiculous, pompous, thin-skinned individuals who have promoted Brexit & brought ruin on the country, e.g. Daniel Hannan:
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Or Boris Johnson
Or Boris Johnson
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Or Daniel Hannan & Boris Johnson together. This was when Johnson said Brexit would be a “titanic success” & po-faced Hannan got shirty with ppl who pointed out that using the word “titanic” was a massive self-own. (Typically he soon deleted his tweet.)
Or Daniel Hannan & Boris Johnson together. This was when Johnson said Brexit would be a “titanic success” & po-faced Hannan got shirty with ppl who pointed out that using the word “titanic” was a massive self-own. (Typically he soon deleted his tweet.)
[well, annoyingly, the rest of this thread has been lost without a trace when my WiFi connection dropped. I’ll try to reconstruct it later]
