Tweets in the garden can upset some

We all like to tweet or share our pics, our quirky moments or indeed most of our life on social media.

One can’t move for pouting pics, zany video clips of misfortunate incidents, flash mob antics or buskers being joined by a superstar outside Aldis in Llanelli.

We all do it at some time or another. High profile figures may have some assistance from PR gurus and inevitably they post right on cue when there is a milestone for a given cause. Save the hedgehog, help for disco dancers, brave the shave or ice bucket challenge. The list is endless.

There are those who seem to get it right and those who seem to get it right but wrong in the minds of others.

Take the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford. He can be found tweeting regularly but one wonders if it is Mark himself tweeting or the steady hand of a PR guru. I know that here at HQ I often recruit my 9-year-old daughter Theia to take a pic barking out instructions, no to the left, the right, up, ah, hold on, there it’s back on again, ah back to front, ok, there, try that. Eventually she takes a pic I am happy with and it gets uploaded, sent, shared and I have to suffer the consequences.

Emojis range from OMG to the wetting myself with laughter, thoughtful, caring, or just a tirade of venomous text. Ah the joys of putting one’s head above the parapet.

I like to follow politicians, not stalking, just to be sure. One can gather a lot of information and form a distant relationship, the occasional like, retweet or even a comment.

History will remember Donald Trump as one of the most prolific Tweeters of our time. All publicity is good publicity so they say.

The old saying is that to be a liar one has to have an excellent memory. Tweeting is just that. An excellent memory of specific times, specific opinions, specific comments, which when dropped into the wrong hands causes an explosion of opinion in itself.

The First Minister was celebrating National Allotment Week and posted a photograph of himself digging in his allotment. He posted the following text to accompany the photo: “It’s no secret that I love gardening. Spending time outside in my allotment makes a real difference to my wellbeing – its great seeing things grow that I can enjoy and eat. I encourage everyone to get stuck in and see what you can grow.” #NationalAllotmentWeek

A perfectly innocent and nice thing to do and an image which shows the human side of our First Minister. For some, reminiscent of their Tadcu or father for others a humble man of the people taking time out away from the madness of Welsh political life. Surely everyone deserves a break?

Not so for the First Minister and those naughty trolls that love nothing more than a chance to snipe and attack from the safety of the keyboard in a darkened bedsit somewhere in Wales or even Engerrrrrland. We won’t repeat those comments here. Feel free to visit the Twitter feed of the First Minister for that experience.

The comments are varied and range from the approving to the downright despising. The First Minister can’t win. He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. Whatever policy, law or decision Welsh Government makes the buck stops with him. He is the front man. The Ozzy Osbourne to black Sabbath, the Phil Collins to Genesis, the Alan Titmarsh to Gardeners.

With such prominence comes scrutiny as we have seen from the latest call from Mr Drakeford for an inquiry into the behaviour of Ministers who attended a dinner party. Not their table manners, I am certain that these were impeccable. This was just the fact that they were present at a dinner party with people who may or may not have been attempting to influence decision making of Welsh Government over the asparagus and new potatoes in butter with a slice of beef (all good Welsh produce of course).

We saw no tweets from Jeremy Miles or Julie James from that dinner, no aerial views of the dinner plates, no round the fire group shots. It was all left to the imagination and we all know how powerful that can be.

Meanwhile the UK Prime Minister tweeted a pic of himself and Carrie on honeymoon at a five star eco hotel in Slovenia. The perfect picture virtue signalling the fact that they are on holiday, in love and saving the planet at the same time.

Mr Drakeford may have earned his break and what he chooses to do with that time is his business. Perhaps he should take a break from social media too. Perhaps the time has come for us all to get off social media and open those curtains wide and have one day a year at least that would see you right.