Fake Twitter account for new BBC Director General Tony Hall has thousands of new followers in a matter minutes

A fake Twitter account purporting to be written by the new BBC Director General acquired thousands of followers just hours after bursting into the social media world.

@TonyHallBBCDG had 1,300 followers after its first eight tweets. Boasting an old picture of Tony Hall, the appointee, its biography read: “I’m the man to take us out of this s**t. Views aren’t of the BBC (although I run the bloody thing LOL?!).

The account’s first tweet read: “Right, let’s not f*** about, someone get me a flat white and a PA, this s**t’s about to get serious”. It was re-tweeted 120 times. The next tweet read “Just hired one of the cheeky girls as my PA. LOL” and was immediately followed by “Text message from Entwhistle: ‘Good luck, Tony, see if you can get out by Christmas’”.

The author of @TonyHallBBCDG is unknown but could be a BBC insider. It follows the success of @SteveHiltonGuru, an account purporting to be written by the Prime Minister’s former director of strategy, whose proclamations about who is or isn’t inside the “wigwam of trust” in No 10 Downing Street quickly developed a cult following.

Later the new account tweeted: “Just rang the Newsnight team and laughed hysterically down the phone for about 3 minutes and then hung up. Have this s**t fixed in no time.” And a more recent read: “2 hours in and Bruce Forsyth just left my office in tears LOL! (He’s a gonna.) Trust me people, I’ve got this under control. #smallsteps”.

Tony Hall, the former director of the Royal Opera House, was appointed Director General of the BBC today.