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How a single tweet cost a member of UK parliament £14,268

How a single tweet cost a member of UK parliament £14,268

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The British charity Comic Relief hosts a bi-annual fundraiser called Red Nose Day that encourages sponsors to do something funny. When the event rolled around on Friday, UK parliament member Fiona MacTaggart thought she'd base her donation off of retweets — but as the BBC reports, she didn't expect the reaction she received. "I'm a bit Twitter naive," she said. Her offer to donate £1 for every retweet before 9 PM that night ended with an obligation to donate £14,268 (about $21,553).

While the response was unexpected, MacTaggart was mostly prepared; "I had already planned to give Comic Relief 10,000 pounds," she told the BBC. This isn't her first time donating to Comic Relief, and she intends to pay the full amount promised on Twitter. Stunts like MacTaggart's aren't uncommon on social sites, but it's the follow-through that counts.