In a letter to today’s Independent, Peter Hitchens – or as he has dubbed himself, “The Hated Peter Hitchens” – responded to John Rentoul’s observation that he doesn’t follow anybody on Twitter.
Rentoul’s column draws a comparison to another famous man who believes himself to be a pariah, calling Hitchens “the Kanye West of British journalism” – alluding to the rapper having over 10 million followers, but following only Kim Kardashian.
In his reponse – which appears defiantly analogue as a letter in the Independent, but is actually taken from his blog – Hitchens calls Rentoul’s concern “touching” but explains that he considers speaking with people on Twitter comparable to “unblocking the sink: necessary, disagreeable – but satisfying when you succeed and positively enjoyable when you hear the waste gurgling away down the drain”. One can only assume Hitchens relishes kitchen chores as he has tweeted more than 5,000 times.
Anyway, despite his protestations it is clear Hitchens been sucked in and become part of the “mob”: in the past two days he has tweeted Owen Jones 15 times in a debate about grammar schools and social mobility, demanding an immediate response in a slightly plaintive manner:
@OwenJones84 @RichardCarvath @JohnRentoul …all I need is for you to admit you were wrong. Takes ten seconds.
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) November 21, 2013
Jones has yet to oblige. But if you really want Hitchens to reply to you (for whatever reason), your best bet is still to comment on his blog.
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