Topic: #twitrelief

[TIAL]

Posted in wrong board. Idiot.

[TIAL]

Thought it might be worth having something similar to the Facebook thread.

I'm frankly amazed at the whole premise behind this #twitrelief thing, which emerged this morning. OK it's for charity, but I can't help get the feeling that this will only create a much wider gap between 'celebrities' and the rest of us. Re-tweeting and following someone because they gave the most money just seems to piss in the face of what Twitter strives for.

[Neil]

Thought it might be worth having something similar to the Facebook thread.

I don't like all-encompassing threads like the Facebook one, and so have renamed this.  I much prefer having a lot of shorter, topical threads - then we can actually find the individual issues being debated, and the forums become a lot less clogged.  Please start new threads for new 'themes', to save me having to monitor and manually split 'em.  Thanks.

[rudi]

much prefer YOU DUNCE.

I'm just being nosey now; what did I miss?

[ed] Oh right; now I look mental.

I've purposely not followed up that twitrelief thing as I suspect it'll make me angry.

[Jemble Fred]

Maybe, but it'll soon pass, and raise some cash while it goes on. I find it very easy to ignore, not least because I couldn't afford to be followed by a flea on Bill Bailey's head, let alone the people already up for the raffle. If Richard Curtis joins and then tweets regularly because of this, I'd be glad just for that.

[TIAL]

I don't like all-encompassing threads like the Facebook one, and so have renamed this.

No problem, thanks.

Back to the topic, for those that don't know, the premise is thus:

If you're the highest bidder, your new celebrity Twitter best friend will:

Follow You On Twitter
Retweet You On Twitter
Mention You On Twitter

[Jemble Fred]

The worst thing about Twitter is the obsession with follower numbers – any time anyone mentions their tally in pretty much any context, my finger hovers over the 'unfollow' button. So yeah, that element of this is a drag. Be good when it's all over with.

[TIAL]

In that case don't ever look at Piers Morgan's feed. Not that you need much persuading I'm sure.

I just can't help but think this will damage the level playing field Twitter provides. Knowing that following and re-tweeting is worth so much has to have an effect on the ego.

[MuteBanana]

They only follow you for 90 days.
Ebay - Twitrelief

Feel sorry for the celebs with the least amounts. All them kids that will suffer because they weren't amusing enough on Twitter.

[Jemble Fred]

I'm stunned by the violence of the criticism, to be honest. "THIS IS NOT WHAT TWITTER IS FOR!!!" Seriously? Did folk really see Twitter as a kind of Utopia of personality-free equality? It's always been some kind of popularity contest for loads of users, maybe the majority. It doesn't have to be, though – if you're one of those people who are only on there for kudos, followers and celeb attention then you're a twat, but you can just ignore all that and use it how you like. At any given time, there's always something shit to draw a bind eye to – sporting events and the like – but give it an hour and the timeline's refreshed and the crap has passed. Why get so wound up about it?

[Small Man Big Horse]

I quite like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHRIS-ADDISON-TWITRELIEF-SUPERFOLLOW-PLUS-/250785937658?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a6401b8fa

The ‘Super-Follow’ means that Chris will do ALL of these things...
1.    Follow you on Twitter for 90 days
2.    Retweet one of your tweets
3.    Send out a tweet including your Twitter @username

And as if that weren’t enough,

4.    Soft ears BEWARE! One abusive phone call with Chris and ‘Malcolm Tucker’ aka Peter Capaldi from ‘The Thick Of It’ with guaranteed swearing. The phone call doesn’t have to be for you, you could ask them to ring someone you really don’t like at all.  Now that IS funny.

We could all club together and buy it for Blue Jam as a birthday present.

[TIAL]

Now that one would be worth it.

I think some of the extras are what make it, so I suppose I can see the point in that. It's just the concept of paying money (albeit to charity) for someone to follow/retweet you that makes me cringe a bit.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Can't see why twitter was in uproar about this. Some of the 'extras' are pretty good. Especially getting a bollocking from Tucker, that'd be ace.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Yet another example of people lining up to take offence at ANYTHING AT ALL I think.

[Neil]

Just looking this up now, seems Miranda Hart is flouncing over it:

http://twitter.com/#!/mermhart/status/45902205504598017

Right, that's it.Am over twitter for SO many reasons.If my bid for #twitrelief gets to 1k, it stops. I will pay bidder back as my donation.
That bidder gets my signed script then for free, but there won't be much to follow. Those lovers of twitter, keep bidding, great cause.
Oh,hate of twitter nothing to do with people saying the odd nasty to me - don't give two hoots about that.140 characters to short to explain

Sadly, most of the appeal of Twitter has always been for folks to feel closer to celebs, so this all feels like a natural extension to it.

[Little Hoover]

Surely it makes you feel less close to a celebrity if you're being expected to pay for the privilege of having them pretend to read your tweets for 90 days.

The thing is, some kind of celebrity auction would be fine really and actually some of the gifts being offered for the highest bid aren't bad, but the idea that having a celebrity follow you on twitter is worth hundreds to thousands of pounds is hugely patronising and distancing.

[TIAL]

Yet another example of people lining up to take offence at ANYTHING AT ALL I think.

I'm certainly not offended by anything about this, if people want to be motivated into donating by having a celebrity following them because they can afford it, that's fine. I just think the whole thing plays off people's desperate quest for follower numbers and need for attention.

I do think that a lot of the additional prizes are pretty good, and worth bidding for.
Basically, Little Hoover has summed up my feelings in the post above.

[Madison]

As far as I can tell everyone involved is offering more than just this follow you business, it's the follow thing and some genuinely good additional thing, a signed script, the phonecall, Andy Nyman is selling "ghost stories tickets and a cuddle", Dave Lamb's prize is doing your own Come Dine With Me voiceover, stuff  like that.

Probably because it's how everyone was wrangled together that there has to be this twitter aspect to it, it's a shame because it seems to be a decent celebrity auction with an angle that a few vocal neerdowells have taken against.

[chand]

Can't see why twitter was in uproar about this. Some of the 'extras' are pretty good. Especially getting a bollocking from Tucker, that'd be ace.

It was just appallingly poorly communicated. It was promoted as being all about getting some tedious fuck like Andrew Collins to follow you for a bit and pimp your Twitter account so you get a bunch of new followers. People thought it was shit, lazy and designed to stroke the egos of celebs for that reason. The extras are all perfectly fine, indeed if it had just been celebrities auctioning special stuff for Comic Relief no-one would've complained.

Wasn't helped by the celebs then throwing their toys out of the pram once the concept got some criticism, with Linehan basically going "er, you idiots realise it's for charity, right?" and ending up blocking people again. I had various people in my timeline telling anyone who didn't like the idea to 'STFU', which just wound people up more.

Sadly, most of the appeal of Twitter has always been for folks to feel closer to celebs

Really? Twitter to me seems like a daily reminder that internet nobodies are largely funnier and more interesting than celebrities.

[Madison]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/300535240627

Charming protest/comment that has raised £250 so far for charity, that's how to engage the debate in a classy way.

[Small Man Big Horse]

As far as I can tell everyone involved is offering more than just this follow you business

Mostly, but there a few where it's just the twitter thing, including JLS, Diana Vickers and Mary Byrne.
Edit: And Stephen Fry, the cheap bastard!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/300535240627

Charming protest/comment that has raised £250 so far for charity, that's how to engage the debate in a classy way.

That's great that is, and now up to £320, easily thrashing Ms Byrne, Graham Linehan and Cher Lloyd.

Edit: Aw, poor old Joe McElderry is doing the worst right now, with bidding only up to a paltry £16.
Edit Again: Oops, that's not true, Steve Furst is going for only £10.50

[TIAL]

Steve Furst is the lowest, followed by Rob Delaney.

It's funny how obviously the blurb is written by Emma Kennedy because of the way some bits are EMPHASISED BY CAPS.

[chand]

Mostly, but there a few where it's just the twitter thing, including JLS, Diana Vickers and Mary Byrne.
Edit: And Stephen Fry, the cheap bastard!

It seems some of them have gone live on eBay without being finished, Jon Ronson has now said he's gonna give something to do with the film of The Men Who Stare At Goats, but his auction page is still only promising the bare minimum of pointless shit.

Jon Ronson wrote the book The Men Who Stare Who Goats which was turned into a proper Hollywood film in which Jon Ronson was played by Obi Wan Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor. This alone is the most awesome fact but the point is this - Ronson is the greatest non-fiction writer in the WORLD.

The ‘Super-Follow’ means that Jon will do ALL of these things...
1.    Follow you on Twitter for 90 days
2.    Retweet one of your tweets
3.    Send out a tweet including your Twitter @username

SO BID NOW!!! Jon Ronson will become your twitter best friend, Comic Relief will spend ALL the money you bid on life-changing projects, and the sun will shine.  (That last bit about the sun might not be true).

[chand]

It's funny how obviously the blurb is written by Emma Kennedy because of the way some bits are EMPHASISED BY CAPS.

Easily the weirdest and most disconcerting thing about Twitter is that Emma Kennedy seems to be important there. It's like Bizarro World.

[TIAL]

Easily the weirdest and most disconcerting thing about Twitter is that Emma Kennedy seems to be important there. It's like Bizarro World.

Yes. I have nothing against her as a person, but it's always amazed me how much influence she seems to have on there. I followed her because I liked her on AIOTM, but that cant be it surely? She has over 30 thousand followers, im just not sure how.

[An Actual Propeller]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/300535240627

Charming protest/comment that has raised £250 so far for charity, that's how to engage the debate in a classy way.

Or at least an innovative way of making your name known in the entertainment world.

Cynical, me?  Probably.  It is raising dosh for charity all the same, but I can't help feeling that there is a underlying motive behind it.  Not that I know her, like.

[Duckula]

Upon seeing that eBay list I just remembered that for some odd reason Charlie Brooker is following me on Twitter, I didn't have to pay nuttin.

[TIAL]

As with me and Stephen Fry. He even sent me a DM once after I asked him something. I'm wondering how much this translates to in charity money.

[Braintree]

Easily the weirdest and most disconcerting thing about Twitter is that Emma Kennedy seems to be important there. It's like Bizarro World.

Yes! I'm surprised that many know who she is? Possibly because she is mates with Grace Dent/was on BBLB a lot?
I moaned about this on twitter yesterday. I'd much rather they just offer the extras, like Russell Tovey and his pants, than whole I'll follow you for 90 days thing then fuck you off. Would it kill the celebrity to just keep following? I agree with Little Hoover and feel this creates a 'Them and Us' culture.
I get the impression Chris Addison would just prefer it if it was just him and his sycophantic comedy mates.

[waste of chops]

Yes! I'm surprised that many know who she is? Possibly because she is mates with Grace Dent/was on BBLB a lot?

I've even more surprised by the first suggestion if you type her name into Google.



I mean, I like her and everything, but I'm genuinely taken aback that enough people care that it's the top thing on Google.