X

Snowden slip-up leads to 47GB avalanche of Twitter e-mail notifications

Technically Incorrect: He might pose as a tech expert. But even the best make mistakes. Having signed up for Twitter, Edward Snowden gets buried in e-mail notifications from followers.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


He didn't? Oh, yes he did. HBO/Screenshot by CNET

You can decide whether Edward Snowden is a whistleblower or a traitor.

I can now confirm, however, that he is unquestionably human.

Having joined Twitter a matter of hours ago, the temporary Muscovite took to it with gusto. He amassed more than 1 million followers, all keen to see what he thought of "Game Of Thrones." (That's what I imagine, at least.)

On Thursday, however, he made a confession. No, he didn't admit to advising Vladimir Putin on bombing Syria. Neither did he declare that he was currently reading Hillary Clinton's e-mails and finding them fascinating.

No, he admitted that he'd made a Twitter Faux-pas. "I forgot to turn off notifications," he tweeted. "Twitter sent me an email for each."

You might think this was a lot of e-mails. Snowden revealed it was "47 gigs of notifications." He added the hashtag #lessonlearned.

It's uplifting to think that a hardcore nerdy techie, who can dive deep into geekiness with the likes of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, can still learn something, while making such elementary errors.

How often it is that the deeper tech types laugh till they drool when the likes of, say, me doesn't know a simple command or how to hook up their vacuum cleaner to the light switch in order to activate the TV.

I confess to giggling a little that even the most efficient, elusive and celebrated of nerds can make elementary errors.

Of course, the caustic-minded will suggest that by adding the 47 GB figure, he was modestly bragging. I prefer to think of this as only the beginning of confessions that Snowden hasn't yet made.

Such as being a secret "Days Of Our Lives" addict, having no interest in the Apple Watch and regularly corresponding with Dick Cheney.

(Via The Verge)