There’s been all sorts of hoo-haa about the ‘RIP Raoul Moat you Legend’ Facebook page and its 30,000 fans.  Now it’s been removed by its creator, Siobhan O’Dowd.

What the media hasn’t reported is that one needed to be a fan in order to comment.  And most of the comments were virulently anti-Moat.  Evidently most of the 30,000 ‘fans’ were arguing that a tribute site to a cowardly murderer was obscene.

What was interesting to me was the majority of anti-Moat comments were articulate and clear.  The responses and the pro-Moat posts were characterised by text-speak spelling.  The debate was passionate but the discrepancy in perspective and style led to a class war of comments where each side denounced the other as a ‘snob’ or ‘chav.’

Shame the politicians didn’t actually look at the site and rather than condemn it blindly, look at the continuing class rifts in British society and the ongoing demonization of the poor.

(note to self – next time I look at a site like this, take a screen grab!)