“It’s no big deal – as it shouldn’t be,” Stephen Fry writes. “But yes, for anyone interested I have indeed deactivated my twitter account.”
“I’ve ‘left’ twitter before, of course: many people have time off from it whether they are in the public eye or not,” Fry writes. “Think of it as not much more than leaving a room.”
“I like to believe I haven’t slammed the door, much less stalked off in a huff throwing my toys out of the pram as I go or however one should phrase it,” Fry writes. “It’s quite simple really: the room had started to smell. Really quite bad.”
“But Stephen, these foul people are a minority! Indeed they are,” Fry writes. “But I would contend that just one turd in a reservoir is enough to persuade one not to drink from it.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Unfortunately, Twitter gets worse with each passing day.
Just shows, what seems great on paper, what is great indeed when its growing and developing and enabling well meaning people can be a total disaster once it becomes so ingrained that it increasingly sparkles like a knife to a street bully.
It’s hardly exclusive to Twitter. This applies to any well-used unmoderated (or barely-moderated) comments system or discussion forum.
The favored venue for the illiterati.
Like Facebook is any better.
As pathetic and a bane to our existence as Kayne West and the Kardashians, and all the rest of the disgusting trash.
Might as well unplug entirely. Then again, what we see on Twitter, Facebook, and any comments section on any page or site on the internet has the exact same smell. Then you go to the mall, a concert, a movie, a restaurant, and you find, that as Pete Townsend once wrote, “There’s no way out.” (Many) People suck.
My Facebook is just fine.
Never once have I seen anything about ‘Kayne West’ (whatever that is…) or anything worse than photos of food.
And before anyone has a go at that I have friends all over the world and I’m happy to read anything they choose to post, they’re my friends regardless.
All that is missing the point, Mr. Fry is in the limelight by choice.
With respect, I’d like to point out the illogic of demanding the freedom to do whatever he wants, good or bad, but then objecting when others do just that.
I could care less about the random thoughts of Kanye West.
DIE TWITTER!
I think you mean that you couldn’t care less.
Sorry, but this one is really starting to annoy me.
Dear everyone in America:-
It is: I couldn’t care less.
When you say you could care less you’re actually saying…
Oh never mind, watch this…
How do you know he didn’t want to say that it was possible for him to care less? Huh?
Simplistic to blame just one person. I’m quite sure Fry wasn’t following Kanye West. Then again, neither am I, but he’s always “trending,” like a billion other toilets.
I only meant that as an example of the garbage people obsess over.
Twitter is what you make it.
I have a constant Twitter stream going on my screen. I never see crap from Kenye West, etc. I see news feeds from all the major services, my favorite Internet services, people I admire and care what they say, interesting strangers from all over the world.
Complaining about the people on Twitter is like going to the low rent district of London and proclaiming all of London to be a dump. It’s all about what you CHOOSE to pay attention to.
No news clipping service could be better.
To put this into context. The incident that sparked this was when Stephen Fryhosted the BAFTA awards ( the UK equivalent of the Oscars ).
Jenny Beaven won best costume design and was a friend of his. She designed the costumes on a movie that he appeared in. She turned up to collect her award with wild hair and a huge scarf
See image here – http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/16/jenny-beavan-stephen-fry-bag-lady-joke-upset
After presenting the award, Fry then ad-libbed that “Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to an awards ceremony dressed as a bag lady”.
This was interpreted by some as being a misogynistic put down of a woman by a gay man, others thought it was simply insulting to somebody at the peak of her profession. Twitter soon became white hot with name calling flying about in various directions.
My belief is that it was said without any malice whatsoever ( as I said, they’ve known each other for many years ), but I also think that it was an unwise joke to make during a live broadcast like that.
I have worked with Jenny a long time ago and her distinctive wild hair is very much part of her look and something that always comes to mind. Many costume designers have a unique look when it comes to selecting clothes for themselves.
Some newspapers and commentators are making a huge fuss out of this, but Jenny is trying to play it down and get on with her life. She has made it clear that she did not take offence, but some newspapers have said otherwise.
I’m more concerned about the effect that the fuss is having on Stephen Fry. It would be better all round if this storm in a teacup were allowed to fade away.
We see it on here and elsewhere all the time how anonymous people on the internet make stupid comments just for the sake of it. Nobody should pay attention to that sort of nonsense, but at the same time, it can be hard to ignore.
Thanks for the background and the photo link. I’m of the opinion that Stephen Fry is just a rude twit.
“We see it on here and elsewhere all the time how anonymous people on the internet make stupid comments just for the sake of it”
People don’t even hide behind anonymity anymore. Look at any high-traffic comments section on Facebook, the majority of asswipes making stupid comments and trolling others don’t bother hiding their real names and identities.
FacePlant is NeXT … Go Private. AAPL = Trust
Who? do, YOU, Trust? with YOUR personal information?
A shame, they did the Wrong Thing. Good intension gone bad. Right Mole?
Stephen Fry says that “One turd in the reservoir” would convince him not to drink. To which I say that’s why we have filters.
When you’re famous it’s probably harder to filter out the steady stream of garbage directed at you, but I’m sure you can just make your account one way if you like.
Also, if you jump on there and say “Bernie Sanders is a kook” you’re gonna feel the Bern instantly, as they say. IF you go toward politics, you have to be thick skinned. People are going to say harsh things about you.
I once wandered over to #blacktwitter (which is a joke) and said that “All lives matter, not just black lives.” You’d think I said kill all black babies in all caps or something.
Take the baby out of the bathwater full of turds, rinse it off and use Twitter the way it was meant to be used. Just avoid the insanity. It’s a fantastic service.
Maybe that curated walled garden of Apple’s isn’t so bad.
The scary thing about these social networks is there seems to be an inevitable race to the bottom. Is this human nature playing itself out? You see it in cable news, most websites, etc. Eventually someone needs to clean it all up with a lot of disinfectant.
Did you know that Stephen Fry is 6’5″ tall?”
What is Twitter?
What is a Steven Fry?
What is ‘Kanye East’?
A pub perhaps?
It would help if Twitter didn’t declare war on conservative viewpoints and align with SJWs to silence dissenting voices, especially in an election year.
I do find it humorous, leftists wanted a world where everyone is free from the shackles of outmoded morality but now that they’ve got exactly that they’re all wondering why the world is a rancid cell pool.
Twitter, like government and the media, is a reflection of the culture. People all sing “Imagine” at New Years then spend the other 364 days knifing each other in the back.
Who is Stephen Fry ? Am I supposed to know ?
He’s known for his wit and intelligence. Maybe you don’t revolve in those circles?
Stephen Fry also happens to be an extremely strong advocate of Apple products and frequently sings their praises on TV shows. He was one of the first people in the UK to buy a Mac. He is often invited to important Apple launches and is a personal friend of Tim Cook and Jony Ive.
It is my experience that Stephen Fry simply likes to whine incessantly about social media. Here we go again.
Well! It’s interesting..Complaining about the people on Twitter is like going to the low rent district of London and proclaiming all of London to be a dump. It’s all about what you CHOOSE to pay attention to.