billcorbett:

On two separate occasions this week I managed to offend some people strongly on Twitter. In the first case, it was mostly one guy. In the other, quite a few people were upset…

I would find this plea for understanding more convincing if he had not blocked me on Twitter because I said he looks like a World of Warcraft gnome.

I, too, wasn’t trying to be mean; I thought an adult entertainer who makes a living dressing up in silly costumes or getting his face photoshopped onto DVD covers would find the resemblance amusing as well. I hoped for a retweet, and certainly did not expect to be blocked.

Which is fine. Celeb twitterers don’t have to follow me, or like me, or even spend much time thinking about my jokes. I thought it was funny, he thought it was insulting, and (as he rightly observes) that’s the risk you take when you try to crack a joke like that.

But perhaps he ought to extend the same sort of consideration to his fans he would like himself.