Local cabaret singer turned local man, Steve Brookstein has found himself in hot water with the social media police once again. The former X-Factor winner decided to link the 7/7 atrocity to his own personal experience.
Unfortunately for him, the tweet came across as some kind of ‘humblebrag’ (an ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to something of which one is proud.)
Social media storm
The tweet was quickly picked up by the masses and Steve Brookstein was painted as some kind of folk-devil – an unsympathetic traitor to the throne, an Albion hating village idiot. The guy is clearly no genius but should he not be spared this kind of vitriol just for posting a tweet that didn’t really have the correct tone?
It’s clear that celebrities and brands aren’t always going to be managed by communications experts. Many of them slip up, I’m pretty sure that Steve Brookstein cares about the victims of the 7/7 attacks. It’s just unfortunate that he hasn’t had the requisite social-media training. Maybe he missed the boat after he was unceremoniously cut out by Simon Cowell?
Is this more a case of people wanting to be offended?
The singer was quick to apologise for any offence that he may have caused with a short response on his personal Facebook page. However, people were still ‘outraged’.
Was this a combination of the summer heat and usual news drought? It’s clear that some people love to be involved in a ‘Twitter Storm’. There are clearly more important things to be concerned about.