social media

A round-up of Children In Need chat on Twitter

11 years ago
by Lindsay Hemmingham

I love Twitter and think it’s a great platform in many different respects, but it does tend to act as a spoiler for TV programmes – it spoils them when people tweet about a programme I’ve y

I love Twitter and think it’s a great platform in many different respects, but it does tend to act as a spoiler for TV programmes – it spoils them when people tweet about a programme I’ve yet to catch up on, but even when I’m on Twitter whilst I’m watching TV, the experience is often ruined by incessant tweets about how much someone hates a certain character, or thinks so-and-so “looks really ugly this episode.”

The problem I find with Twitter is that I tend to follow if I find a couple of their tweets funny or interesting, then soon realise that they like to retweet other peoples’ rubbish, or provide running commentaries for a lot of TV programmes that I don’t watch. Based on the annoying drivel I’m faced with every week during X Factor or TOWIE, I assumed this year’s Children in Need would be no different.

I have to admit, I don’t really watch Children in Need – don’t get me wrong, I think it’s an amazing cause, and I donate money, but I just choose not to sit through the cast of Holby City murdering a Queen classic, prancing around, and generally embarrassing themselves. And if I’m being completely honest, I was preparing myself for a relentlessly irritating Twitter feed last Friday night as the 34th annual show began…

How wrong I was. Aside from the odd teenage girl inevitably (and nauseatingly) gushing about how amazing One Direction are, my news feed remained surprisingly bearable, pleasant even! In fact, I found that Twitter had actually become a fundraising tool for Children in Need, as well as the official account (@BBCCiN), many celebrities got involved, all urging their followers to donate to the cause.

Peter Andre tweeted:

Other celebs such as Tinie Tempah, Chris Moyles, Ewan McGregor and Niall Horan all showed their support, and with their tweets reaching millions of fans – many of whom are sure to do as their idol does – I’m sure their encouragement helped raise the total funds considerably.

As well as the official Children in Need Twitter account providing live information about how to donate, celebrities involved in this year’s show tweeted ahead of their appearances, promoting certain sketches that were coming up:

Additionally, some stars tweeted during the show’s more sombre moments, reinforcing why everyone’s donations are so important.

Fearne Cotton tweeted:

Since, like I said, television-related tweets usually annoy or enrage me, it was nice to see everyone tweeting positively for a change, and, consciously or not, everyone came together interactively and helped in achieving the highest ever total.

Image: Bruno Postle

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