Why I won’t miss Sally Bercow’s Tweets

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone ...
Sally Bercow has left Twitter.

For those of you wondering who Mrs Bercow is; aside from being the wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, she’s probably best known for two things: Her 2011 appearance on Celebrity Big Brother (first evictee) and her prolific Twitter account.

I should probably state now that I didn’t follow Sally Bercow, so you’d be right to question the quiet satisfaction in the title of this article. I’ll explain: Just because you don’t follow someone on Twitter doesn’t mean you avoid their occasionally irresponsible Tweets.

Mrs Bercow’s a key offender at this. Recent gaffes have contributed to her account now being closed.

There are people who buy into Twitter with a genuine desire to interact, to share and to promote. But they do it in the wrong way.

Too many times, social media is used for spreading rumours, for picking fights and, in some cases, bullying.

The value of Twitter as a search tool is often unknown. Many of my parents’ generation hear only about ‘Twitter Wars’ between minor celebrities.

On the whole people Tweet responsibly. But in the case of Mrs Bercow, I’d actually rather not hear about her Tweets, and here’s the reason: Sally Bercow is one of those women who are pilloried with such vitriol, that it is hard to not see an innate misogyny in the waves of attack angled at them.

For this reason, to have an opinion on these people is so polarising as to be reductive. They are provocateurs, but they don't appear to have a clear calling outside this character trait. Therefore, my opinion is that I have no opinion.

Generally speaking, there will always be a propensity in some to push the boundaries of good taste, and I approve of this, but reckless gossip is reckless gossip, and the fact that it’s on Twitter only heightens its reach. Join the conversation, but think before you speak.