Listen: 7News journalist Sharnelle Vella explains her daily Twitter updates to Sam Robinson on Hope Breakfast
By Sam RobinsonWednesday 18 Aug 2021Hope BreakfastTrendingReading Time: 2 minutes
Journalist Sharnelle Vella is bringing some positivity and humour to Twitter every evening, adding light among the negativity.
If the daily 11am presser is getting you down, there’s a daily update that has become not only a source of information, but hope.
7News Melbourne journalist Sharnelle Vella has been releasing Twitter threads each evening that have grown a cult following, mostly because they bring need-to-know facts with a level of sensitivity and humour.
As Sharnelle told Hope Breakfast, the updates arose from her daily coverage of Melbourne’s lengthy 2020 lockdown.
“I was doing all the ‘Daily Dan’ press conferences in Melbourne, and I realised there was a lot of information that wasn’t making it out into the public,” Sharnelle said.
“And that information I thought would help people understand what is happening in our outbreaks.
“I thought, I’m just going throw all of this information online at the end of the day -– put it out there and see what people think of it. No opinions, no emotions, just facts.”
In greater Sydney – the bubble is now 5km for exercise and there are big fines for non compliance – you also have to register your single bubble buddy.
NSW – we know this is scary.
Check on your mates. Order some uber eats ice cream. Cry in the shower. Pat dogs.— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) August 14, 2021
These Twitter threads began covering Victoria’s outbreak but has now, in Sharnelle’s words, “exploded” to a full national wrap.
Sharnelle’s followers have grown rapidly, as she brings daily facts, mixed in with a bit of humour, and ends her threads with a fun Australian fact that is unrelated to COVID.
Recent facts have covered lamingtons and the Splayd, and are well worth the read. All in all, Sharnelle’s updates are a breath of fresh air in the fairly negative space that is Twitter.
Who doesn’t love the Splayd?
It’s a Spoon, a knife and a fork in one.
Well, it was invented by Sydney Man William McArthur in the 1940s.
He invented it so women could eat easier at BBQs while blancing plates on their laps.
Splayds were a favourite wedding gift in the 1970s. pic.twitter.com/DgIhGzu6ba— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) August 14, 2021
“Basically whenever there was a lockdown, I would go off Twitter,” Sharnelle said.
“You could write anything – just the hate that would come back because people were so angry at the media. I couldn’t look at it anymore.”
And yet, her followers direct messaged her thanking her for creating a community.
“I felt my heart flutter a little bit,” she said.
“Twitter is such a bin fire, and for people to think they have this little safe thread where they can write things underneath it, feel positive at the end of the day, I don’t know – it’s one of my greatest achievements of all time, I think!”
Keep informed with Sharnelle’s nightly Twitter updates at @SharnelleVella. Hear more from Sharnelle, including her reflections on her time reporting from Tokyo for the 2020 Games, in the player above.