Remember the guy called John Lewis in the UK who gets bombarded with tweets every Christmas?
He has no association with the department store but thanks to his Twitter handle, @johnlewis, he’s always the target of messages meant for the store.
Now, amidst the scandal involving the Tánaiste in the past week, one Irish girl has spoken out about being mistakenly dragged into the furore online.
Meet Frances Fitzgerald.
The 27-year-old from Clonmel has had her good name inadvertently sullied on Twitter all week as people mistake her for the Fine Gael TD.
https://twitter.com/FrancesFitz90/status/935476887345926144
“It would happen on occasion, but it’s been fairly frequent this week, given the scandal,” she told us.
Even political corespondents and media organisations have mistakenly tagged her on Twitter.
“The majority of people corrected their mistake once I let them know they had tagged the wrong Frances Fitzgerald, so it’s really not a big deal.
“I’m named after my father – he’s loving all of this, he thinks it’s hilarious.”
Frances sees the funny side and says she hopes that, in what must be a trying time, the now ex-Minister Fitzgerald might too.
“I’m sure she doesn’t have a clue who I am but I’m hoping she might enjoy the situation if she’s seen my tweet – the woman has had a rough week.”
“She can keep the name, I’m sure it will all calm down on Twitter for me after a little while.”
As for following her namesake into public service? Don’t count on it.
“I think I’ll pass on a career in politics,” she said.
“I’ve had my fill of politics for the foreseeable future, thanks to my namesake. I’m too soft for the constant barrage of abuse politicians receive on social media.”
Frances isn’t the only one to be accidentally caught up in online drama.
Others who share their name with famous people have sympathised with her this afternoon.
Believe me I feel your pain 😆
— Niall Horan (@niallhoran) November 28, 2017
You have my every sympathy. Every time Stephen Donnelly of Fianna Fáil does something silly my mentions are brutal.
— Cllr Stephen Donnelly (@SteveDonnelly95) November 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/ArtimusFoul/status/935509425040908289
