Northern Rail Racism Twitter Row (General is Twitter suitable)

[YorkshireBear]

Twitter is turning into a very very dangerous place, i am not convinced that TOCs should respond to queries and should instead just report disruptions. There is too much that can go wrong, this incident has already been sent and picked up by the local press and poor Andy could be in a little trouble. People on twitter seem to be calling all sorts of things even with little evidence. Not convinced it is a benefit to society.


You really have got to feel for Northern Twitter man Andy here. One of the better ones. Someone tweeted him with what can only be described as foul language, using words even a toilet mouth like myself would not use.
Responded with 'can i have a banana', basically as a stupid reply to a horrible tweet. Now he is being accused of being a racist and twitter is erupting... Based on very little seen as the girl in question is completely white.

I do not want to share the link as it is direct to said language.
Any twitter users out there feel free to find it yourself.

 

[Mr395008]

Just been having a flick through the tweets, I don't really understand why the kids seem to think he has said anything wrong?

As Andy said, their language is disgusting....so I'm totally with Andy on this one.

However, I do agree with the OP and do think that twitter should be used for disruption information and not responding to customers. That's what customer service centres should be used for.

 

[Chapeltom]

Twitter is a place where you think you can say what you like. I'm one of those who goes into rants of shouting and swearing (directed at no-one) as 'twitter' doesn't respond, and let off a bit of steam. I'm a Twitterer of 30,000 tweets and 4 years, its slowed down dramatically though this year! Its not so much as becoming dangerous as that people working for companies need to be taught how to use social media. Morons will always exist on the internet and Twitter allows idiots to shout/have a go at people for the sake of it.

 

[mullin]

That AlexHolcroft1 seems to just be in it to stir the situation, comments being sent to the poor guy (Andy) just doing his job such as...

"you're the type that used to bully kids in school then go home and get spanked silly, vile animal"
"#SeeYouInCourt"
and
"you're getting sacked in the morning"

to which he's replied back
"its not racism its a lighthearted response to your disgusting language"
"this is a serious forum for railway information not schoolyard language"
and
"Im not a coward please stop insulting me I am human being here"


Personally, I feel those who man these twitter accounts all do a damn good job at keeping people informed. Instead of phoning up the customer services or e-mailing in, people can receive (sometimes) a near instant response, yet I suppose there will always be those who think hiding behind a keyboard typing words is a harmless activity.

 

[Searle]

If anyone wants to see the thread: https://twitter.com/northernrailorg/status/398863680366190592

I'll be interested to see if the papers actually do care about it. I feel like the poor guy should just start ignoring them!

 

[Manchester77]

H O W is it racial abuse when they're white what it doesn't even make sense :roll:

 

[Darandio]

That AlexHolcroft1 seems to just be in it to stir the situation, comments being sent to the poor guy (Andy) just doing his job such as...

Coupled with hashtags such as...

#prayforsaira
#justiceforsaira

Give me a break!!

 

[Manchester77]

@calnewton: Banana comments? disgusting and racist. You're defo getting reported m8 @northernrailorg. @sairahillyard #justice

Do you not realise it's not racist if they're white... :-x :roll:

 

[theblackwatch]

It'll be nice if the papers do a report about people like that woman using offensive language on a public website that could be seen by minors.

#bansairafromtwitterforoffensivelanguage

 

[trentside]

What I don't understand is why do any of these TOC Twitter feeds reply to abusive tweets? It essentially condones abuse, by offering them a response - what they should be saying (if anything) is simply "We don't respond to abusive tweets".

 

[Butts]

Am I the only person not on Twitter or Facebook - seems like it sometimes !!

****ter....seems more appropriate :roll:

 

[yorksrob]

Am I the only person not on Twitter or Facebook - seems like it sometimes !!

****ter....seems more appropriate :roll:

No, I can't be doing with it either !

 

[richw]

I don't understand how offering a banana is racist.

However does her language fall under the Malicious Communications Act 1988?

According to a BBC article, and her offensive language throughout, is to me an offensive comment.

Making "offensive" comments may fall under the Malicious Communications Act 1988

 

[YorkshireBear]

I disappeared from it for a long time because i couldn't be bothered with it, but i need it for travel updates and also knowing when i might get to see the Northern lights.

 

[northernchris]

What I don't understand is why do any of these TOC Twitter feeds reply to abusive tweets? It essentially condones abuse, by offering them a response - what they should be saying (if anything) is simply "We don't respond to abusive tweets".

Completely agree with you on that. Maybe this incident will lead to Northern reviewing their social media policies as I'm not sure replying with silly comments is the best response to the idiots

 

[Tracky]

I dont get why the banana comment is racist. I love bananas and have at least one a day...

I also don't get why the Northern 'Tweeter' made the comment...

 

[trentside]

Completely agree with you on that. Maybe this incident will lead to Northern reviewing their social media policies as I'm not sure replying with silly comments is the best response to the idiots

Unfortunately, silly comments were asking for trouble. I feel sorry for Andy as he's obviously trying to get the human touch across - but such things don't always come across well in electronic communications.

When I'm interacting with customers, it's a case of pick you audience - I like to have a bit of fun and banter with passengers, but not everyone it up for that sort of thing. It's far easier to do this in person, though.

 

[thelongestroad]

I dont get why the banana comment is racist. I love bananas and have at least one a day...

I also don't get why the Northern 'Tweeter' made the comment...

Because the silly little girl on Twitter is throwing about c*nts, w*nks and f*cks.

Quite refreshing to see that sort of response to that sort of comment and not some soppy corporate bollocks apology!

 

[yorkie]

H O W is it racial abuse when they're white what it doesn't even make sense :roll:

Weird logic. Presumably she thinks it's "racist" because she is white, which is a similar colour of the inside of a banana?

According to a tweet Saira Hillyard sent 5 hours ago she "hates everyone". I can believe that!

There is 'history' here - see this abusive tweet (the argument appears to be because one of her friends complained his ticket was stamped, because he mistakenly believed that one stamp invalidates the ticket, whereas the reality is you can have as many stamps as staff choose to place on the ticket, providing it's used within the T&Cs), leading her to refer to Northern staff in a derogatory manner. There's also another abusive tweet, where she again insults people who work at railway stations.

As for Alex Holcroft, he doesn't like foreigners according to this tweet, and is very foul-mouthed and discriminates against people from Merseyside and Leeds. Coming from Manchester, that's a bit perplexing.

She has referred to herself as a "child" in this tweet, but she admits to being 17 last March, and appears to be 18 now, according to this profile.

In York, we would call people like them "chavs". That's not anything-ist, it's just a way to describe people who behave like that. There's loads of them these days, we have a bit of an infestation in the UK.

Hopefully the media and Northern rail will realise it's just a chav being hypocritical and dismiss her rants as meaningless drivel.

 

[Crossover]

Am I the only person not on Twitter or Facebook - seems like it sometimes !!

****ter....seems more appropriate :roll:

More appropriate indeed

I do use Facebook, but I have enough distractions with that and here (and life in general) to have time for Twitter :P

 

[Manchester77]

Turned detective there Yorkie! Thanks for the summary of the girl.

Chav being the operative word, probably wanting to make some money out of it too.

 

[455driver]

Am I the only person not on Twitter or Facebook - seems like it sometimes !!

****ter....seems more appropriate :roll:

I dont do ****ter or Farcebook , I just stick to a few rail forums where everyone loves me!

I do find its funny that this Sahara (or whoteva she is called like, pity her parents couldnt spell Sarah properly ) thinks its fine to send abusive Twitts but thinks the mentioning of a banana is racist!

if she is so wee weed off witht he train service why doesnt she just use her broomstick to get to where ever she is going, it cant be work because she is a minor, unless she meant that she works down a pit and she is a miner?

I think it says a lot more about her (and her upbringing) than it does about the Northern Twitter team!

 

[richw]

Turned detective there Yorkie! Thanks for the summary of the girl.

Chav being the operative word, probably wanting to make some money out of it too.

its fairly easy to become detective on Twitter, everything is public. I just use my twitter for checking travel updates, news flashes, and sport banter pages. I will also tweet a positive experience with a company. Would avoid posting negative as can potentially turn libellous against you. Only ever once tweeted negative and that was as the company I needed did not publish contact us details on their company website, yet had a Twitter link on the site. I did however when they resolved my complaint, tweet again how great their complaints handling was on my issue.
Facebook has made privacy settings easy to change so I tend to feel more comfortable knowing only my selected audience can see my posts.

 

[gingerheid]

So she's the person that committed the criminal offence, and she's complaining about other people? Typical, sadly

 

[bb21]

What I don't understand is why do any of these TOC Twitter feeds reply to abusive tweets? It essentially condones abuse, by offering them a response - what they should be saying (if anything) is simply "We don't respond to abusive tweets".

Unfortunately when you engage yourself in a conversation with idiots, you get sucked in. The idiots suddenly have an excuse to prolong it.

Alex only has himself to blame for this I am afraid, as much as I sympathise with his situation. I have no desire to look at the tweets, but I can already picture it in my head what it is like. Pack mentality and all. I can quite safely say that almost all of those throwing abuse around have no manners and were never taught them because their parents were too busy shouting at the neighbours themselves or watching Jeremy Kyle.

It would be interesting to see if Northern have the balls to back him up.

 

[Chew Chew]

In York, we would call people like them "chavs". That's not anything-ist, it's just a way to describe people who behave like that. There's loads of them these days, we have a bit of an infestation in the UK.

In Scotland we call them NEDS. Non Educated Delinquents.

As for lovely Saira here is a tweet of hers from earlier on today.

With a packet of crisps and a cheeky smile, Wenger is a f***ing pedophile

 

[fowler9]

Weird logic. Presumably she thinks it's "racist" because she is white, which is a similar colour of the inside of a banana?

According to a tweet Saira Hillyard sent 5 hours ago she "hates everyone". I can believe that!

There is 'history' here - see this abusive tweet (the argument appears to be because one of her friends complained his ticket was stamped, because he mistakenly believed that one stamp invalidates the ticket, whereas the reality is you can have as many stamps as staff choose to place on the ticket, providing it's used within the T&Cs), leading her to refer to Northern staff in a derogatory manner. There's also another abusive tweet, where she again insults people who work at railway stations.

As for Alex Holcroft, he doesn't like foreigners according to this tweet, and is very foul-mouthed and discriminates against people from Merseyside and Leeds. Coming from Manchester, that's a bit perplexing.

She has referred to herself as a "child" in this tweet, but she admits to being 17 last March, and appears to be 18 now, according to this profile.

In York, we would call people like them "chavs". That's not anything-ist, it's just a way to describe people who behave like that. There's loads of them these days, we have a bit of an infestation in the UK.

Hopefully the media and Northern rail will realise it's just a chav being hypocritical and dismiss her rants as meaningless drivel.

Wow, what a bunch of sweethearts. I do use Facebook as it has proved useful at times but never gone near Twitter. A friend of mine said he is leaving Facebook and sticking to Twitter as Facebook is full of people talking rubbish. I'm guessing the above examples weren't representative. Ha ha.

 

[Class 92]

I have both Facebook and Twitter but I use Twitter for travel news/updates and Facebook for talking to friends and family.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
When looking on Twitter I have seen quite a few bad comments to TOCs.