Fri 23rd of April, filed under Social Media
Ironic tweets show Clegg popularity
Twitter users across the UK banded around Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg this week after damning accusations were made towards him in several newspapers.
Social networking advocates took such offence to slights made against the politician by the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph that they decided to join in the fun – albeit with an ironic twist.
Preceded by the hashtag #nickcleggsfault, the Twitterati wryly accused Clegg of knocking Chuck Norris out with a roundhouse kick, triggering last week's volcanic eruption in Iceland and mislaying Apple's new prototype iPhone 4, leading to this week's leak of the new model on Gizmodo
Clegg-mania rolls on
The hashtag gained popularity quickly, becoming the UK's most-used and the overall second on Twitter by midday yesterday, only beaten by World Day coverage. This comes on the back of increasing Facebook activity in favour of Clegg and follows on from various home-grown campaigns against Conservative leader David Cameron.
Last night's second televised election debate saw Clegg come out on top once more, according to a Guardian/ICM poll of 504 people taken an hour after the event. The Lib Dem leader took 33% of the vote against Cameron and Prime Minister Gordon Brown's 29%.
Brown, however, seemed to dismiss the Clegg's popularity early on, claiming: "This may have the feel of a TV popularity contest. But in truth, this election is a fight for Britain's future, your future and your jobs. If it's all about style and PR, count me out, but if you want someone to make decisions, and with the judgment and a plan for the future, I'm your man."
Posted by Richard Frost
