When asked whether he would be travelling economy class, Deputy Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor of India replied, “absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!”

But this was not in a telephone, news, or even sit-down interview. It was on Twitter. This, along with other remarks and a random cricket scandal, forced the resignation of Tharoor this past week as “India Loses Its Twittering Deputy Minister” reports. Tharoor amassed over 700,000 followers of Twitter, and many saw him as the “champion of the aspiring middle classes [who are] disillusioned with India’s corrupt politics.” Tharoor tweeted on everything from foreign policy to his “ceremonial duties,” and some of his more controversial remarks landed him in hot water, even with his own party. One Indian blogger praised the minister for his light-heartedness, noting that ‘cattle-class’ is literally slang for ‘economy class’ and reflects more on the airline than the customer.

The SSN Take: With no inflection on Twitter, those in power need to watch what they say.

Samuel Hartman, April 29, 2010

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