On Twitter, things got sillier again with the sudden emergence of @freethefalkland, a hilarious, obviously-fake account, supposedly by a Falkland Islander. It proclaims to speak, "The true about the Falkland Island People and their search for the independence from the Britain." Actually, I shouldn't be so cynical about assuming he's a fake. After all, he insists, "I not Argentinian but if I was the Argentinian I would not be ashame. I am citizen of world friend. Take the chilling pill." Either way, he's been a wonderful comic foil for @hms_dauntless, albeit unwittingly. I hope he doesn't get banned.
As it turns out, @freethefalkland was also a parody account. The author subsequently admitted,
Some weeks ago I created the fake twitter account @freethefalkland. I didn't have any expectations, just a 'character' who was clearly 'Spanish speaking' but who insisted in broken English that he was a Falklander. Over the weeks I interacted with people on all sides. Islanders, Brits, Argentinians, Americans, Anglo-Argentinians, Scots nationalists, Irish nationalists.....
Wow, a Brit pretending to be an Argentinian pretending to be a Falkland Islander. A sockpuppet of a sockpuppet? That's...meta.
It wouldn't be my chosen method of parody - I like people to know that what I'm doing is satire. Even so, I have to admit it was a convincing hoax. I recall at the time gleefully leaping aboard with his Twibbon campaign to demand a UN referendum of the Islanders to decide their future, thinking, "Heehee, doesn't he realise that this would actually strengthen the case for the status quo?" As it turns out, he knew exactly that.
In his coming-out speech he makes the point that while he does not believe the Islanders should become Argentine against their will, both camps could do with less rhetoric and more discussion. I'm unashamedly on the pro-British side (or, more accurately, pro-Islander and pro-self-determination, since I'm not given to flagwaving) but I have to concede it's a valid point.
While I've been happy to admit I was fooled and have a chuckle about it, @FreeTheFalkland has been greeted with howls of outrage from some tweeters.
" is your next project to tweet the people of Homs as a President Assad supporter?"
"Over educated dick takes piss out of island yokels, &then posts blog on how he suffered for his art"
"If #Selfdetermination is the sacred cow you're prodding, don't be surprised to get a swift kick in the a$$"
"can we now call @freethefalkland a English cunt now?"
Interestingly, and I suspect this isn't a coincidence, every howl of outrage I've seen has been from a British card-carrying Tory. Of the Islanders themselves, I've only come across one - @BennyinBritain - who has commented on the affair and he seems quite sanguine about it.
One might suggest that these Tories have been shouting their nationalist rhetoric at what they've now discovered is a non-existent target, and they're livid about it.
Outrage about outrage. Once again, how very meta.
Humour is a good way to defuse anger and hate, which is why I started @notHMSDauntless. I suspect in his own way @FreeTheFalkland had a similar objective. The actual HMS Dauntless leaves Britain tomorrow for the Falklands, so I suspect @notHMSDauntless may soon be navigating some choppy waters of its own.
In the meantime, I refer those outraged about @FreeTheFalkland's ruse to his earlier advice. They should take the chilling pill.
You are entitled to your view. He is entitled to his. I am entitled to express my view of his behaviour and I did here. http://t.co/3xTF3FpK I also think "overeducated dick takes the piss out of yokel islanders & then posts blog on how he suffered for his art" sums up FTF quite well.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it concern you that (so far, anyway) 100% of the outrage has been from British Tories? Of the "yokel islanders" themselves, @bennyinbritain and @elliottrib seem to be taking it in good humour.
ReplyDeleteBecause Tories aren't entitled to an opinion. Only cuddly Liberals and lefties can say what they think. Perhaps you ought to address the arguments made. But again, they are Tory arguments so therefore by definition valueless. Alternatively you could look at what was actually said.
DeleteMost people regarded @freethefalkland as a harmless prank, the only thing that concerned me about it was his attitude to two posters from the islands who blocked him. Virtually all of the ire and more than 2/3 of my rebuttal was concerned with the self-righteous garbage he put on his blog. Something the blogpost above has ignored. Incidentally, even FTF woulld admit that the people who are angriest about the blogpost are not those who abused him as FTF. At least one defended him on several occasions. But again don't let the facts get in the way of a good anti-Tory rant. Read my account which tries to be objective and wherever possible gives evidence for what I say
I am heartily fed up with this whole affair but there are 3 things about that blog that cannot go unchallenged.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that people who are angry about FTF are angry about the self-righteous sanctimonious blogpost and they are not the people who gave him persistent racist abuse. With regard to my own posts to him I did call him a liar and a moron, but if you read the context you would see such epithets were justified. However, they were the exception rather than the rule. On a few occasions I defended him from abuse. I don't think while he was in character ever swore at him or used serious racist abuse. I did call him a dago dunderhead, but that was a reference to Fawlty Towers.
The hoax was fine, a wind up, I do it myself and I have a fake account at the moment I use to wind people up. If you haven't guessed it is @godfreyc43. Incidentally, on a couple of occasions I attempted to use it to illicit a response from FTF. It would have been just the humorous exchange he claimed he was seeking, but he never responded. Perhaps he knew he would not be ffed and blinded at by an aged resident of Walmington-on-Sea. Nevertheless most of my replies to him comprised of mockery of his English and his 'political' positions.
What infuriated me was not the hoax but his claim to have questioned his sanity and undergone painful weeks during the hoax. How that could not nauseate anyone is beyond me. People all over the world are enduring genuine hardship and he suffered pain from a hoax he perpetrated and could have abandoned at any time. That totally disgusted me.
The second point about the notHMSDauntless blog that needs to be challenged is its claim that the arguments of those on the right are sui generis somehow less worthy of consideration than those on the left. It is assumed that those on the right are the ones shouting nationalist rhetoric. Nothing could be further from the truth. People such as @benedictMPwhite and @TealMR2 have all been angered by FTF, but we have all in our different ways been engaging with Argentines who are both pro and anti the current Argentine govt position. However, never let the facts get in the way of left wing prejudices.
The final point I want to make is brief and factual. Not all islanders are as sanguine as you suggest. There is a reply to FTF’s blog which is from an islander and is in fact critical.
For an objective view of the affair and an explanation of why people were furious go to Jed’s rebuttal here http://www.twitlonger.com/show/gph2f2