BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Think before tweeting, or Amanda Abbington on Twitter

Tinks · July 1, 2014 5:00 am

I agree with a lot of your post, Solar, But, as a Mum herself, I think it would be nice if Amanda stopped to ask herself sometimes "would I want my own kids seeing that/being spoken to like that?"
Plus, the fact that Pocketsizedwolf joined the forum to defend Amanda, shows that she is a big influence on the lives of her fans...she isn't under any obligation to set an example to them, of course, though.
I'll leave it there, because I actually feel quite strongly about one incident on there that I saw, and it would be unfair of me to bring it up on here now.

besleybean · July 1, 2014 7:48 am

Oh now this is getting interesting...it's like a soap opera!
It certainly brings a different perspective when you know Sherlock team members as friends.
Ok. So, reassess.
This thread was started over a concern about a particular tweet and it's spread into a whole wider discussion.
That's good, no individual should be demonised and Twitter life doesn't exactly correlate to professional or even personal life.
I love Twitter and will defend it to the hilt.
I follow many celebs and feel lucky that a couple follow me back.
I feel we all have a responsibility about what we say on Twitter.
I am always perfectly happy to be brought up about anything I say(anywhere) and feel others should be the same.
Sometimes you may want to 'have a quiet word' and the trouble is on Twitter, you can't do that unless you and the person follow each other.
A celeb really upset me once over what I considered to be ' go at poor people', so I told him in as nice a way I could. But had I been able to have sent a private message, I could have explained better,
Though of course, we do have to allow for humour as well.
But it's also good that we analyse what we are laughing at.
It may also be helpful to consider who is tweeting, let's look at the person as a whole. I would be more offended by say Bernard Manning(were he alive) than say Amanda.
Though yes, I do think those in the public eye carry a bigger responsibility.

Last edited by besleybean (July 1, 2014 1:56 pm)

Pocketsizedwolf · July 1, 2014 12:57 pm

SolarSystem wrote:
And I'm sure she is able to live with that and not in need of a friend to register on the BBC Sherlock Fan Forum to defend her.

Yeah, I literally just joined because a fake tweet had been credited to Amanda, when she'd never said it. Purely joined to point out that it was from a fake account and never tweeted by Amanda herself. The rest is me just being defensive.

besleybean · July 1, 2014 2:01 pm

Heck, so I'm the cause of all the bother?
I can only apologise again.
This is another problem with twitter, you sometimes only get half the story.
Rest assured I have not gone blabbing the story to all and sundry.
I'd completely forgotten about it, until I saw this thread.
Oh now sorry again, I have only just realised you were being amusing.
I appear to have had a humour bypass today!

SusiGo · July 1, 2014 2:09 pm

Do not worry, besleybean, everyone can fall for a fake tweet or article or whatever. Happened to me as well. And the tweet that made me open this thread and to which you reacted in the first place was no fake.

Pocketsizedwolf · July 1, 2014 2:12 pm

I think this is just one of those things where people will have to agree to disagree, I guess. Some people are for celebrities being able to tweet whatever the hell they want with no censorship, some think they should be more careful. It's not something that will ever be agreed upon.

besleybean · July 1, 2014 2:13 pm

I do think, in general, the discussion is worth having.
I should also say in my defence, I have never fallen for any fake Benedict account: one simply knows he doesn't do twitter.
I would like to stress again, I love Twitter and largely enjoy a positive time on it.
EDIT; on censorship.
1. I was only talking about self-censorship
2. I am totally for free speech, possibly more so than some on Twitter.
As long as nobody is actually being threatened, let all the. nutterrs say what they like, so we can all see what nutters they are.
Having siad that, I am aware of the recent issue with radicalisation through social media access points.

Last edited by besleybean (July 1, 2014 2:17 pm)

SusiGo · July 1, 2014 2:29 pm

Pocketsizedwolf wrote:
I think this is just one of those things where people will have to agree to disagree, I guess. Some people are for celebrities being able to tweet whatever the hell they want with no censorship, some think they should be more careful. It's not something that will ever be agreed upon.

Just to be clear - I am not for censorship. I just think that people - all people, not just celebrities - should think before tweeting such stuff in the heat of the moment. I find the term offensive, no matter if it is tweeted by Amanda or someone else.

Pocketsizedwolf · July 1, 2014 2:41 pm

But just because YOU find it offensive, doesn't mean it's offensive, if you know what I mean? Not trying to be rude at all.

besleybean · July 1, 2014 2:48 pm

Oh I agree with you, I think the whole issue of 'offense' is a minefield.
We shouldn't be over-sensitive, but sometimes things just are neither appropriate or even funny.
I say that because on Twitter I have sometimes felt really bad for laughing at something and even knowing that I shouldn't..
Having said this, I never fail to be surprised by what people do think is appropriate to tweet...and think it's clever or cool.

SusiGo · July 1, 2014 2:48 pm

But I have the right to say that I find it offensive. Which I still do.

Side of Angels · July 1, 2014 4:20 pm

Add me to the list of those who find the tweet offensive. The way she starts with "I'm in no way ageist but..." reminds me far too much of the people who start a racist or homophobic comment with, "I'm not a racist, but..." or "I'm not a homophobe, but..."

I completely understand that she was reacting to something scary that happened to her. However, she could have easily made the same point without calling the old lady a "cadaver."

besleybean · July 1, 2014 4:28 pm

To be fair(on this phrasing alone) in the cse of Twitter, you are a bit limited by the character number.

Pocketsizedwolf · July 1, 2014 4:34 pm

Is it the word you find offensive, or the fact that she tweeted when she was still riled up? Out of curiousity?

I wonder if people would be more understanding of her use of language if she'd said the kids were in the back of the car, perhaps, or made it clear just how close to killing her this woman actually was.

I imagine in similar positions, you and others would use far harsher words. Perhaps you shouldn't tweet them, but social media has become far too entangled in the human mind these days.

If it is simply the word, can you explain to me, rationally, what is so offensive by it? And why that word, in particular, is causing you such offence?

Side of Angels · July 1, 2014 4:40 pm

Calling an elderly person a cadaver is basically calling them a dead body. How is that not offensive?

Ms. Abbington could have written the exact same thing but used "old lady" instead of "cadaver." I don't think very many people would have had an issue with that.

Pocketsizedwolf · July 1, 2014 4:42 pm

I don't see it as offensive. I think people are reading too much into it. People have called people much worse when angry.

Pocketsizedwolf · July 1, 2014 4:45 pm

Anyway, like I said, I didn't actually come here to defend her. Like you've said, she doesn't need a friend joining a forum to do that (although, that's a different issue...)

I merely came to correct a wrongly credited tweet. So carry on. Sorry you're offended.

besleybean · July 1, 2014 4:47 pm

!. I never even saw the tweet.
2. For me it's purely my Spock type OCD, it just doesn't compute the illogicality...obviously it wasn't really a dead person...I don't know if this makes it better?!
Possibly it's similar to that time Amanda took offence at somebody calling her Martin's wife. Maybe she likes accuracy, too!
Oh and you weren't joking then? I'm confused!

Last edited by besleybean (July 1, 2014 4:49 pm)

Kerkerian · July 1, 2014 7:00 pm

I've read this thread with interest, since I'd not seen the tweet in question. In my opinion, anyone who calls an old person a cadaver is in exceptionally bad taste, and it's one step further than simply insulting someone in order to vent: it's crude and unnecessary.
Whether people are personally offended by the term or not, there's a distinct disparity between calling someone names and calling someone a corpse just because they are old and their reflexes have slowed down.
I agree that there are a lot of old people out there still driving who are endangering themselves and everyone around them by doing so, but that's not the point. It's simply not appropriate to use such a distateful and disrespective language in such a context, and people who are on twitter (famous or not) are after all aware that their statements are being read and spread.

Last edited by Kerkerian (July 1, 2014 7:01 pm)

SusiGo · July 1, 2014 7:02 pm

Thank you. Just my thoughts, only you expressed it better than I did.