Fake Morris Iemma on Twitter

commentary Someone this afternoon briefly started using the Twitter micro-blogging service to impersonate newly ousted NSW State Premier Morris Iemma; and the results were hilarious.

It was only this morning that Iemma resigned, bowing to pressure imposed by a hostile meeting of Labor MPs following his failure to push through legislation to privatise energy utilities in the state. Iemma was immediately succeeded by Water Minister Nathan Rees.

This afternoon, with Australian Twitterers talking non-stop about the events, a Twitter user who had taken Iemma's name started replying, leaving the Twitter account up for a few hours before it mysteriously vanished.

"Oh, I will be back, he wrote. Just you watch. Yes. I. Will. by the Power of Grey Skull, I will be."

In reply to well-known open source evangelist Jeff Waugh, he wrote "What implosion? I refuse to confirm nor deny that there was an 'implosion'. We just exploded. Inward."

The Twitterer has also engaged with other high-profile Australian Twitterati such as futurist Mark Pesce. "Little known fact: Nathan Rees back stabs," they wrote this afternoon.

The fake Morris Iemma Twitter account mirrors a trend seen in the United States in recent years, where residents have used blogs and Twitter accounts to satirise high-profile figures — such as Apple supreme Steve Jobs and Microsoft chieftain Steve Ballmer.

The fake Morris Iemma Twitter page has been taken down, but ZDNet.com.au has retained screenshots of the comments. Click for the full-sized images.