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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Jessica Elgot

Julie Bishop goes on emoji-fuelled late-night tweeting spree

Julie Bishop - phone in hand - in the house of representatives.
Julie Bishop - phone in hand - in the house of representatives. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Julie Bishop is a well known fan of the power of the emoji – the Australian foreign affairs minister once conducted an entire interview through the medium of tiny pictures.

But perhaps in an effort to soften her image in the days after she joined forces with Malcolm Turnbull to unceremoniously oust prime minister Tony Abbott from office, Bishop appears to have gone on an emoji-fuelled following spree with fans on Twitter.

The sheer volume of her cheery tweets led some to speculate whether Bishop had in fact been the victim of the friendliest Twitter hacking of all time.

It began when a follower complained on Thursday evening that he had been blocked from following Bishop.

The minister, who is Turnbull’s deputy, then began following pretty much anyone who asked for it.

Her conversations, which went on for several hours, ranged from discussing the TV dating show The Bachelor, to thanking her local airport.

When followers began to question what might lead a busy minister to stay up late tweeting emojis to fans, Bishop’s account tweeted that she was merely feeling “emojinal” and denied the account had been taken over by an enthusiastic intern.

Late on, Bishop seemed to finally tire, or run out of characters, but said a tweeting MP on a following spree was no excuse for Australians to be tired at work in the morning.

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