UK Teen Troll and Australian Radio Host – Social Media vs Traditional

Compare these two situations: A UK Teen is arrested for making comments about an Olympian diver’s (Tom Daly) father’s death on Twitter and a lauded Australian Radio Host is lauded for making comments in front of Uni students about our Prime Minister’s father’s death. Where do our teenagers learn it is fine to trash someone mourning the death of their father? From the media. #StopTheMedia #TrollMedia

One got this response:

A MAN has been arrested in relation to malicious Twitter postings directed at British Olympic diver Tom Daley.

The teenager had been staying at a Weymouth bed and breakfast for eight months, witnesses say.

Police smashed down the 17-year-old’s door about 2.45am (BST) on Tuesday, put him in handcuffs and led him away to a waiting police vehicle.

He was arrested on suspicion of posting negative messages to Daley, referencing the diver’s dead father. (News)

The background was this:

He then highlighted a message from a user on the social networking service with the handle Rileyy69, who wrote to Daley: “You let your dad down i hope you know that.”
In subsequent messages “Riley Junior” accused the 18-year-old star of being “over hyped” and claimed he had “let us all down”.
But after the teenage troll became one of the most talked-about topics on Twitter, he sent a series of apologies to Daley and claimed he had not realised that his father, Rob, had died last year.
He wrote: “I’m sorry mate i just wanted you to win cause its the olympics I’m just annoyed we didn’t win I’m sorry tom accept my apology.

Of course everything escalated, someone pointed out a video where he threatened violence to someone online, and he got arrested.

Alan Jones, our most famous Aussie radio host:

“Every person in the caucus of the Labor Party knows that Julia Gillard is a liar,” Fairfax and News Ltd newspapers reported the 2GB breakfast show host as saying at the Sydney event.

“The old man recently died a few weeks ago of shame. To think that he had a daughter who told lies every time she stood for parliament.”

Gasps and shocked laughter from members of the audience can be heard on a recording of the speech. (Australian Financial Review – I was going to link to The Age but it has an auto-play ad).

Note: most other news outlet didn’t call the laughter “shocked” – it was just laughter.

Alan Jones has called on Bob Brown and Julia Gillard to be drowned recently.

Alan Jones: It is absolutely laughable. The woman’s off her tree and quite frankly they should shove her and Bob Brown in a chaff bag and take them as far out to sea as they can and tell them to swim home.

— 2GB, Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 6th July, 2012

Acceptable behaviour?

@Rileyy69 is a little shit in spite of apologising to Daley a number of times. Alan Jones is a bigger one and will only apologise if his sponsors start pulling out. Lesson learned. 

Where do our teenagers learn it is fine to trash someone mourning the death of their father? From the media. #StopTheMedia #TrollMedia

EDIT:

@someplacenice tweeted: Bad comparison. One was deliberate online trolling. The other a comment made in a speech – then circulated

From me: I think it’s the opposite. The kid had no followers so basically made his opinion felt to ONE person – who then retweeted it. Our vicious teen actually told him to stop retweeting it and “bringing the hate”. *rolls eyes*

On the other hand, a radio announcer and media alumni had to know that the big room of people were going to report his SPEECH – that’s his job!

Here are a list of the (newly hidden) sponsors of 2GB

2GB takes sponsor list is down. No problem. Here it is attached.#boycott2GB #shame2GB twitter.com/DrHenryWoo/sta…

— Henry Woo (@DrHenryWoo) September 29, 2012