Social media has unexpected uses as common sense wins

WHAT a time to be alive! In the Baie de Seine off the north coast of France the British and French fishing fleets square up over scallops. Angry words are exchanged and rocks are thrown.

What begins as a bad-tempered spat quickly escalates into clashes which become genuinely life-threatening as boats collide and traps are set. The safety of the Brixham boats is the subject of online petitions and a debate in the House of Commons hears calls for offending French skippers to face the full might of the law.

What the situation needs is an outbreak of common sense, and it comes in the most unlikely of forms. Britain’s main negotiator, who is also the spokesman for the local fleet, happens to be Facebook ‘friends’ with his French counterpart. Messages are exchanged over a medium more often used for sharing holiday snaps and videos of pets on trampolines.

Common sense prevails between the Facebook friends and a tense situation is defused. These social media have their uses.