Twitter to host online Armistice Day service
People are planning an online Armistice Day service held on microblogging site Twitter, including hymns and a two-minute silence.
If you can't get out to observe the official Armistice Day service this morning, Twitter can help you take part from your desk.
People are planning to hold an online version of the real thing, with an order of service being tweeted at 10.15am, reports the BBC. Included will be links to hymns and a two-minute silence, when tweeting will cease.
James Thomas (@Poppy_Tweet), a music graduate from Cardiff and member of the Methodist Church, came up with the idea. He wants it to broaden awareness of traditional remembrance events, and stresses it's open to people of all faiths.
"I'm aiming to make the service as traditional as possible through text and images," Thomas told the BBC.
Those taking part are encouraged to tweet the names of loved ones who died serving in the Forces. People will be using the hashtag #weremember -- it's sure to be trending throughout the morning.
The preprepared tweets will start at 10.15, then continue at prearranged intervals, like a physical service running to time. Prayers for the dead and links to hymns on YouTube will be tweeted, as well as a sermon written by Reverend Joanne Cox.
Cox said the brevity of the microblogging service was a strength. "Short sentences can help people connect to the bigger spiritual themes of life," she said.
And Thomas was keen to stress this wasn't intended to replace actual services, but rather complement them. "I don't want to tell people to watch us rather than go to a service," he said. "That's not what we're about."
The service will be repeated on Sunday 13 November.
The Royal British Legion will also be webcasting its service from Trafalgar Square. It said it's encouraging everyone to observe a Twitter silence at 11am. The event will start at 9.45, and be hosted by TV presenter Ben Shephard. It'll finish at about 11.15 with the placing of the poppies in the fountains.