Dear Honey

I have a friend who is addicted to Twitter. Even worse, she’s one of those people who has to be first with the news, and can’t resist ‘leaking’ details to prove she’s in-the-know. Recently she ‘leaked’ details of my long weekend away, much to the annoyance of my boss, who was under the impression I had flu. She’s nearly ruined one proposal already and is massively irritating others. If I block her, she goes nuts. Please advise!

love

Twitted

Dear Twitted,

Poor you. What a complete bore. Console yourself with the thought that people who have to advertise their ‘in the know’-ness are only choking off their own supply of gossip.

You should take a two-pronged approach here. Firstly, stop telling her what you’re up to, stooopid. Get one of those Twitter apps that allows you to ‘mute’ friends without unfollowing them, and keep your own movements mysterious. Under no account tell her anything you wouldn’t want to see retweeted to everyone she knows, literally and metaphorically.

Secondly, to deliver a gentle wake-up call, you should spike the well a few times. ‘Let slip’ a few innocent comments about how much you’re looking forward to  ’Dulcie’s thing at the weekend’, or how sad you are ‘for poor Adam’, and refuse to be drawn further. Dulcie and Adam will probably then do the job for you. It’s up to you how gentle you want the wake-up call to be…

Discreetly,

Honey