Learning a new skill is hard. Evidentially, twitter is too hard for some people.  Robert Llewellyn was rightly confused when he saw this...

What Had Happened?

Turns out, the BBC had read a tweet to Robert Llewellyn and mistaken it for a tweet by him

Everything Electric SHOW & EXPO

@Everyth1ngElec

I think they should be on #BBCqt, I know the oxygen of publicity argument but I believe 90% of people will see the truth of their hate

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Dave

@dflite

Replying to @Everyth1ngElec@bobbyllew #BBCqt I agree! We don't take away anyone's Freedom Of Speech, + give them time to look like idiots on telly.Feels Win-Win to me

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When Is A Retweet Not A Retweet?

Look everyone! Stephen Fry wants to organise a protest!

Allison

@misswallison

RT @stephenfry Please RT: Same-sex kissing flashmob outside BNP Headquarters, 31st October. Who's in? #bbcqt

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(In fairness, many people made this mistake, I've picked Allison randomly)

What Really Happened

A user asked Stephen Fry to retweet her idea

Later confirmed

People retweeted her, then those people were retweeted. Then, like Chinese Whispers the original message got truncated, garbled and misinterpreted.

Can't People Read?

No. People, in my experience, read what they want to see.

The syntax of retweeting and replying is confusing to some people. Maybe it's me, but I picked it up fairly quickly - others struggle. This is then compounded by not bothering to check the original source.

As Churchill Mark Twain Sarah Palin Stephen Fry said "A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has logged in to twitter."