Twitter parody accounts carve out new realm of political satire

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Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Twitter parody accounts carve out new realm of political satire

When Toronto City Councillor Karen Stintz released her sweeping OneCity transit plan, criticism from the adamantly pro-subway Mayor Rob Ford camp was predictably swift.

But one voice that rose above the din that seemed to resonate most with voters was neither elected politician nor media pundit.

“SERIOUSLY TTC LADY! NICE YOU WANT TO MAKE SUBWAY BUT YOU FORGET PART WHERE SUPPOSED TO COST ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! BACK TO DRAWING BOARD!” tweeted HULKMAYOR (who only writes in upper case), an increasingly popular Twitter personality who is a must-follow amongst the political chattering class.

Within two days, HULKMAYOR’s message had been re-tweeted more than a dozen times, reaching more than 15,000 accounts, according to Tweetreach.com, a website that tracks the exposure of individual tweets on the social media website.

The green-faced Twitter personality, whose true identity remains a secret, is just one of several “fake” public figures on social media whose clever, humorous observations are carving out a new realm of political satire and punditry. Many personalities have emerged as celebrities in their own right and are must-reads among the media and political classes.

Most high-profile Canadian politicians have a Twitter alter ego, and in many cases, the words of these fictional characters are eminently more entertaining — and insightful — than the people they parody.

There are at least a dozen “fake” Stephen Harper accounts that offer everything from family-friendly satire to scathing criticism of the prime minister.

One recent tweet from the Not Steve Harper account, which has just over 4,000 followers, reads: “NOTICE: starting immediately, all tweets from senators, MPs & got officials will need to be pre-approved by PMO.”

The message was a nod to Senator Patrick Brazeau who publicly insulted Canadian Press reporter Jennifer Ditchburn — on Twitter — after she wrote a story about the senator’s poor attendance record.

Even the CBC’s political affairs reporter and prolific tweeter Kady O’Malley, who has more than 20,000 followers, has her own parody account called Cranky Kady. While not the most complimentary of account names, O’Malley is unperturbed.

“I feel like I dodged a bullet by inspiring a parody account that is entirely good-natured and in good fun,” she told the Star. “It makes me laugh, anyway.”

Among the most popular satirical characters in the Twitterverse is KimJongNumberUn, with more than 130,000 followers. The account features a fictional Kim Jong Un, who recently took over from his father to become supreme leader of North Korea, riffing on everything from foreign policy to pop culture.

“No one in North Korea had problems with Twitter being down. One of the many cool things about banning the Internet,” KimJongNumberUn recently tweeted.

In an interview conducted via email, HULKMAYOR refused to disclose his real identity or go out of character, revealing only that he works for a private retail business and is not a journalist or politician.

When asked why he decided to take to the Twitterverse, HULKMAYOR responded: “SOMEONE ELSE SAY MAYOR ACT LIKE HULK AND JUST SMASH SO HULKMAYOR FIGURE BEST THING DO IS TALK DIRECT AT PEOPLE. SOMETIMES HULKMAYOR NO CAN BELIEVE THING COME OUT OF MAYOR MOUTH. IT LIKE JOKE WRITE ITSELF.”

He added that he is worried about Toronto’s future.

“SO MORE EASY FOR LAUGH INSTEAD OF HAVE SAD. BUT EVERY TIME HULKMAYOR WORRY RUN OUT OF IDEA SOMEONE AT CITY HALL STEP UP AND PUT FOOT IN MOUTH.”

When asked what he thinks about his popularity, HULKMAYOR, who began tweeting last summer and now has over 2,500 followers, said he found it strange.

“SOMETIMES SHOCKED TO SEE SOME OF NAME IN FOLLOWER LIST. ESPECIALLY WHEN SEE SOMEONE WHO HULKMAYOR KNOW IN REAL LIFE AND HAVE NO IDEA.”

Mark Blevis, an Ottawa-based digital public affairs strategist, says the appeal of parody Twitter accounts is partly due to the social media site’s limit on the number of characters one can type.

“People generally don’t have the patience to write or read nuanced or expansive pieces,” he said. “They want the goods now. They want their own feelings reflected back to them in an insightful and condensed way. It’s validating.”

Politicians make for particularly good targets, Blevis said, because they are at the centre of public scrutiny.

“You’re supposed to hold yourself to a higher standard. That makes you an easy target. It helps that politicians provide so much fodder. When you set the rules and then appear to break them, when you use polarizing language or skirt important issues, the tweets can write themselves.”

A selection of tweets from the world’s most entertaining parody accounts

HULKMAYOR (June 29): OH STOP COMPLAINING EVERYBODY! IF PRIDE WAS THAT BIG DEAL HULKMAYOR WOULD BE THERE

KimJongNumberUn (June 29): Dad had a saying: “Give people health care, and before you know it they’ll want food, too.”

The Relevant Organs (Chinese government parody account) (June 25): Mao’s tomb WAY better than the Lincoln Memorial. The U.S. can’t even afford embalmed corpses. Can we donate some?

KimJongNumberUn (May 21): If you thought the solar eclipse was cool, come visit North Korea. The lights have been out here for 80 years.

Not Steve Harper (June 26): Look, you can’t train regularly to lose a boxing match & also be expected to show up to work at the Senate.

Cranky Kady (June 29): Guys, I’m having a hard time reconciling my status quo-ist position with a potential dominion day-ist position.

HULKMAYOR (June 25): HULKMAYOR FED UP WITH CONCRETE FALL ON RICH GUY MERCEDES! CONCRETE SUPPOSED TO LAND ON PINKO BIKE NOT SURE HOW HULKMAYOR MISS.

Twitter parody accounts carve out new realm of political satire
 
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