Twitter, Murdoch and Shakespeare: A heady mix
Murdoch crisis attracts clever puns from Twitterville
Needless to say Twitterville was in overdrive during the height of the Murdoch phone hacking scandal with many Tweeters showing their prowess with the English language producing some witty Shakespearean prose to describe their reaction to the media mogul’s apology.
As is typical in a crisis of this magnitude, the opinions were also derogatory, negative and sarcastic. But thanks to the Bard, they were also very clever.
I am indebted to Huffington Post for its fabulous collection.
Here are a few examples:
- “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing #shakespeare4murdoch
#notw - Murdoch most foul #shakespeare4murdoch
- ”You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face.” King Lear Act 4 S2 #shakespeare4murdoch
- Shall he dwindle, peak and pine, that Douche Murdoch is a Swine #shakespeare4murdoch
- “When shall we three meet again? Lewisham Police Station in October #shakespeare4murdoch“
- I come not to praise Murdoch, but to bury him. #Shakespeare4murdoch
- The Taming Of The Mogul #shakespeare4murdoch”
Perhaps it was the nature of the crisis that attracted prose; after all it is a story about a so-called “king” who is losing control of his kingdom under very shameful circumstances. It may also be that the crisis unfolded in England, the home of the famous playwright or it could be that that it is a story about words (illegally begotten words, but nonetheless words – and words are the fodder for stories.
Whatever the impetus for the Shakespearean outburst, the Tweets clearly demonstrate what can happen in a crisis – you will be the butt of jokes, comedy shows, cartoons and now Twitterprose.
Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a week-long series about crisis communications. These guest posts were originaly posted on Brad Phillip’s blog.
This rather ameba-looking graphic, showing how the news of Osama bin Laden’s death was broken and then spread on Twitter, is a graphic reminder of just how the news cycle works today. It’s also a reminder of how powerful Twitter has become to bring us news in a bite-sized, easily consumable 140 characters.
*
*
Highly Effective Crisis Management
