Twitter users defend Clegg following media attacks

Users of the microblogging website Twitter have sprung to the defence of the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg following a series of attacks against him by newspapers.

Twitter users have coined the hashtag #nickcleggsfault as a sarcastic response to front-page reports published today by newspapers that have traditionally supported the Conservative Party.

The tweets satirise the demonisation of Mr Clegg by right-wing newspapers following his appearance on the UK's first televised debate between leaders last week.

Recent tweets include:

"I was about to blame Nick Clegg for something, then I forgot what it was. Clearly this is #nickcleggsfault."

"We're essentially all highly evolved monkeys clinging to a rock that's falling through space and the rock itself is dying. #NickCleggsfault"

"The Black Hand murdering Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Clegg you warmonger! #nickcleggsfault"

""I'm Nick Clegg and Windows Vista was my idea" #nickcleggsfault"

Hashtags are labels that can be attached to messages posted on Twitter, so-called because each one is prefixed with the hash character (#).

The tags can be tracked to give an indication of popular discussion topics on the website. The Clegg tag was rated number one in the UK this morning and is currently in the top 10 most-discussed subjects worldwide.

Attacks on Clegg
The Telegraph was among several newspapers that published stories attacking Mr Clegg this morning. It claimed that the Liberal Democrat leader had received a series of payments from party donors directly into his private bank account.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman told the Guardian: "The donations were properly made and declared and were used to fund part of the salary of an additional member of Nick Clegg's parliamentary staff."

Mr Clegg will appear tonight in the second televised debate on Sky News. Those who do not have access to the channel can watch the leaders' debate on Sky's website, where they can use interactive tools to rate the performance of the three politicians as the debate progresses.

Blog comment on Clegg, Twitter and the battle between new and old media from Parliamentary Connections.