#TwitterSilence: Was Caitlin Moran's Twitter boycott an effective form of protest?

 

Monday 05 August 2013 10:05 BST
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Caitlin Moran attends the Attitude Magazine Awards at One Mayfair on October 16, 2012 in London, England.
Caitlin Moran attends the Attitude Magazine Awards at One Mayfair on October 16, 2012 in London, England.

Yesterday high-profile tweeters including Caitlin Moran took part in a boycott of Twitter, using the hashtag #TwitterSilence. But as with anything on the social media site, the boycott soon attracted its own frenzy of disagreement and in-fighting.

The action was inspired by the series of bomb threats issued to female journalists last week, in addition to the rape threats which campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez has received. However, Criado-Perez herself did not take part, tweeting "I choose 2 remain on twitter. I choose 2 #shoutback. And I choose not 2 stop even 4 a day."

Following the end of the 24-hour boycott, Caitlin Moran who instigated the silence tweeted: "It was just some people who wanted toshow solidatiry and keepthe debate going. And no one was hurt or punched at anypoint." So was it an effective form or protest, that drew attention to the issue? Or did it confuse the message of female Twitter activists who refuse to be silenced?

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