Has Twitter matured?

Not all that long ago I used Scoop.it to circulate an article that looked at the reasons why some people love Mr Cumberbatch and some reasons why they don't. I didn't write it myself and I did not favour one side over the other. Yet for the simple act of circulating it I came in for some insults on Twitter. One person, by way of retaliation for my obvious insult to her idol, said that I had the most pathetic Sherlockian blog on the internet (or sentiments to that effect).

 

You scum Alistair. How dare you?!!

So it was therefore with considerable trepidation that I wrote and posted my blog item Cumberbatch must be stopped. I feared, with good reason, that some people would not read beyond the title before coming at me with pitchforks and flaming torches. I clicked “post” and sat back to wait.

Naturally, given its title, the post was viewed a lot (it’s my second most viewed post since my blog launched in 2009) and it was RT’d around Twitter. Much to my surprise there were no Twitter insults, no abusive comments on the blog…..nothing. There were however, lots of appreciative comments and even the odd compliment.

Colour me surprised.

Did Twitter actually get the joke? It would seem so. Or perhaps I've simply already blocked all the usual abusive people…..

Given that putting a negative word in conjunction with “Cumberbatch” normally throws up at least one over-sensitive soul I can only assume that Twitter (or at least the small part of it that I reach) has matured. I sincerely hope it remains that way.

Written by Alistair Duncan

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