Folks, *please* be a little careful with regard to tweets being deleted by politicians and government bodies.
Yes, this is significant when it happens, but many of the purported cover ups are not that.
Here follows a little thread about how to avoid getting caught out.
Yes, this is significant when it happens, but many of the purported cover ups are not that.
Here follows a little thread about how to avoid getting caught out.
Let me introduce you to Twitter's advanced search:
twitter.com/search-advanced
This is the easiest place to start to make sure you're not tricked. It allows search by date, tweets to a user etc.
twitter.com/search-advanced
This is the easiest place to start to make sure you're not tricked. It allows search by date, tweets to a user etc.
Take this tweet for example:
10 seconds of searching reveals this is not true - the tweet is still up:
And the response of the person who wrote the untrue one 🤷♂️:
10 seconds of searching reveals this is not true - the tweet is still up:
And the response of the person who wrote the untrue one 🤷♂️:
Or this one about Gove:
1.4k retweets
And completely false - still up:
1.4k retweets
And completely false - still up:
And then to one that *did* get deleted - after having been online between 10 and 11 minutes: 
How do I know that's not fake?
Other than seeing it with my own eyes, others who are respectable like @tom_nuttall had seen it and mentioned it. BBC even covered it.
There has also been this from the Cabinet Office:
Other than seeing it with my own eyes, others who are respectable like @tom_nuttall had seen it and mentioned it. BBC even covered it.
There has also been this from the Cabinet Office:
A further useful source is:
twitter.com/deletedbyMPs
It simply lists all the tweets MPs delete. And there are a lot of them, many of those tweets being rather mundane.
twitter.com/deletedbyMPs
It simply lists all the tweets MPs delete. And there are a lot of them, many of those tweets being rather mundane.
Basically the issue is this though: the UK government is full of blaggers and liars as it is. You do not need to blag or lie, or be lazy in your tweeting, to show this.
What should you do?
1️⃣ Before engaging with a "it's been deleted" tweet, use Twitter's advanced search to check
2️⃣ If it has indeed been deleted, check if anyone reputable likewise can confirm it
1️⃣ Before engaging with a "it's been deleted" tweet, use Twitter's advanced search to check
2️⃣ If it has indeed been deleted, check if anyone reputable likewise can confirm it
3️⃣ If it turns out you were wrong, own up, delete your (re-)tweet
4️⃣ Politely point out others' errors
(and of course make sure I practice what I preach too!)
/ends
4️⃣ Politely point out others' errors
(and of course make sure I practice what I preach too!)
/ends
