Parody accounts on Twitter often attract large numbers of followers due to the comical 140 character updates posted by their creators. Generally these accounts pretend to be celebrities, politicians, dictators, public figures or notable people from history, but recently there have been quite a few accounts set up on behalf of animals in the news.
Last year when a cobra managed to escape from New York’s Bronx Zoo, someone was very quick to set up the account @BronxZoosCobra, which now has over 200,000 followers. So it’s of little surprise to hear that since there have been news reports of a lion being on the loose in Essex, a Twitter account was set up on behalf of the rogue big cat.
Over the weekend @EssexLion amassed over 36,000 followers, but the account has since been suspended so unfortunately you can’t look at any of the tweets! A couple did slip through the net though, as this one was posted on Mashable:
“SITTING ON TOP OF A MARK 2 FORD ESCORT. NICE & COMFY. DRIVER CRYING. I CAN WAIT.”
Quite why the account has been closed, I am not sure. In some cases spoof accounts can cause problems and confusion – such as in India where the Prime Minister was impersonated – so you can understand why they might be closed down. However when people decide to take on the persona of an animal, you’d think that people would be able to work out that the account is not real, surely?
Do you follow any parody users on Twitter? Tell us which accounts give you a daily dose of humour in 140 characters or less.