h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This morning my timeline was full of comments about how the BBC had gone Radio Rental for UKIP, how everyone was fed up with hearing about UKIP, how Labour's gains were being virtually ignored, how the BBC had virtually become all-Farage all the time, how 'we get it BBC, now shut the up'.

These would be the same people who've been posting and re-posting non-stop about UKIP and Farage for, oh... the past two months maybe?

Oh, Twitter

There's a postscript to this too - now they're all in denial about just how well UKIP have done - they haven't won a single council (true), their percentage of the vote has fallen (true, but they have 155 councillors today that they didn't this time yesterday thanks to first-past-the-post), how in one ward they might have got 25% of the votes cast but that's only 9% of the potential turnout (irrelevant since the people who didn't vote don't get counted in the ballot - 25% of the turnout is 25% and those are the votes that get people elected).

Oh, Twitter.

Whichever way you slice it, bearing in mind that mid-term elections usually go against a sitting government, and that council elections (which have only ever been interesting during the 80s) turn up some odd results because of voter indifference and apathy), and despite that Farage interview on LBC earlier in the week and all the stories of UKIP candidates saying the most appalling things and then resigning; if, after all that, there are enough people who want to vote for them it highlights a disturbing trend in the UK population which the Twitterati better get used to. If they really want to do something about they need to get off their arses, their smartphones and the computers and think about doing something other than acting like a bunch of 12-year-olds in the school playground, making up memes and infographics and laughing at pictures of someone taken in such a way that there's a microphone in front of them that makes it look like they've got a toothbrush moustache.

But I thought this was quite clever:
"Let's face it UKIP is just an ego trip for Farage. They're not United Kingdom Independence Party, they're Continual Use of Nigel on Telly." (Mitch Benn)

It was funny, all the commentators on the Beeb, ITV Sky and on Twitter had assumed that the UKIP were going to take votes and seats in massive numbers from both the Con-Dems and Labour, they had planned their scripts about a disaster for Millepead,( have you ever noticed how he appears to be like Wallace, and if so who is Grommet?).

To then see them all trying to pedal along with their scripts when the numbers coming in were already showing it wasn't going to work out how they planned, it was getting quite surreal in places before the their bosses got them revised scripts

And the message never got through to some of the twitier bots who were posting complete crap.

They do have a point, however. Nigel Farage has been on Question Time, for example, more times in the past year than I can remember any other fifth party leader being on it. UKIP is a phenomenon which is being built into a "third party" by the media - and while some people do get hysterical on social media, and give them a profile they don't really warrant, the BBC used to have a pretty strong line on impartiality which hasn't been in evidence so much, lately. Ratings are more important.

It's a change for the worse in the BBC, I think: a creep towards the sensationalism that used to be the preserve of the Murdoch press. One could even call it "an attack on British values", but I won't go there.

It is so sad to see the direction the BBC, particularly news and current affairs, has taken. If people are worried about earthquakes and tremors from fracking, that's nothing compared to the seismic disturbance made by John Reith, Richard Dimbleby, Hugh Carleton-Greene, John Snagge, Jack DeManio, Alvar Lidell and so many others spinning in their graves.

I'm quite ready to believe they might have a point, as you say. I've been known to complain about the BBC's obsessive coverage myself on occasion

What I was trying to get across though was my feelings about those who've been incessantly posting about UKIP for the last month or two, reposting every meme and infographic, every glib comment, every smartarse one-liner, suddenly complaining about the BBC's incessant coverage of the party's successes on Thursday. That sort of disconnect is something I've noticed again and again over the years, but the way that Twitter's short format discourages any kind of worthwhile discussion means that this is how a lot of people are increasingly looking upon debate, I feel, and the disconnect is growing.

Another minor march in London and another group of people who are convinced the BBC is biased/right wing/a tool of the government because they haven't seen their demonstration reported.

Oh, Twitter.

They might actually have a point this time - in other news, Max Boyce has a quadruple heart bypass.

well, I didn't know there had been a march, and I think that's pretty appalling reporting since they managed to cover a bunch of litter louts at stonehenge.

There are suspicions of Government interference
But I can't rule out cock up, like the organisers forgot to set up interviews with the Beeb and the Commercial radio stations, so No Journalists were sent along. (Weekends are overtime)

Owen Jones and Mark Steel were there so that's the Grauniad and the Indy covered

You'd think someone like Graham Linehan, co-writer of some of the biggest sitcoms and sketch shows of recent years such as Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Big Train and Black Books would be fairly sensible, particularly if you've followed him for a while and got a feel for his MO. But even apparently intelligent people can let their prejudice and dogma get the better of their thought processes. http://twitter.com/Glinner/status/496260709383426048 "Climate change kills four RT @Independent: Italy flash floods kill four as 'surreal & terrifying' storm hits festival http://ind.pn/1sl4pLm" Oh, Twitter (and Graham). Thankfully there are a few more sensible types commenting in the replies.

Tourist locked inside Waterstones bookshop uses Twitter to be freed
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-29656674

I was one of the several people who asked him why he was posting pictures of himself stuck in a locked shop instead of actually calling someone who could get him out, someone the rest of us know as the police, and would probably be our first port of call in the same situation. But this is what people do now - 'Hey, look at me look at me look at me look at me look at me'.

Oh Twitter.

Normally I reserve this conversation for deriding the ignorance of comments and views posted to Twitter, but credit where it's due - sometimes it does something good.

This week's #putoutyourbats tag as a memorial to Phil Hughes is one such occasion. It prompted Google Australia to use the image of a bat leaning against on a wall on its portal page - a nice touch. And there are pictures being posted of bats leaning up at football matches and rugby matches today, as well as at the various cricket matches that are going on around the world today

that's rather lovely. If I had a bat to put out I would.

I did also rather like the #ThisIsNotAMosque too

I haven't owned a cricket bat for decades. One thing I bought before *ahem* emigrating to the US though was a fresh new cricket ball, to keep as an ornament.

I didn't think it would be appropriate to put that out, in the circs.

No need to cough when you say emigrant, Gosho. Everyone knows it's immigrants who carry contagion.

There are anti-emigrant parties and pressure groups, of course. It's just a lot harder to find them.

But I am an immigrant

Ah, so that's why you're coughing!

I seem, in the past month or so, to have attracted the attention of a small, but growing, number of young ladies who take delight in posting pictures of other young ladies, mostly famous ones, and commenting upon how handsome they look.

I'm flattered

You too, eh? I get a few of them. It must be our irresistible sex appeal. It sure as hell ain't my money they're after.

Same here