Stephen Fry has revealed how he regularly crashes websites with around 3,000 requests per second as a result of him tweeting a link to his 1.3 million plus followers.
In an exclusive interview with our colleagues on .net magazine, Fry says: "When I tweet a link it usually gets around two or three thousand requests a second. Especially if I word it in a way where I really want people to go to a site."
So Fry tries to warn site owners of the potentially server-smoking rush beforehand. "I just have to be very specific, and say: 'Please go to your web guys and your host and tell them this is the kind of traffic you could get," Fry explains.
"Fifty per cent of the time the site is down in seconds – even when we've contacted site owners and they've told us everything will be fine. It's often an unprecedented amount of traffic, and they don't have the required capacity."
Fry is, of course, a huge fan of Twitter, although he admits that its true potential is only just beginning to be realised.
"Twitter's astonishingly new still, and its power is only just beginning to be discovered," he enthuses. "Not just power to advertise, but power to campaign, power to – perhaps – change politics: not necessarily in a good way, not necessarily in a bad way. But it's power nevertheless.
"Wherever a lot of people are assembled, and are exchanging ideas quickly, there is always power. And people are only just beginning to learn how to use the API to its fullest potential."
To watch the full interview in streaming HD, head over to www.netmag.co.uk/fry.
This interview also appears in .net magazine issue 200, which is out now, and also includes a free .biz domain.
Your comments (11) Click to add a new comment
nicolasmerritt
March 5th 2010
11. Well, he's got his revenge ;)
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/stephen-fry-breaks-net-by-linking-to-how-fry-s-tweets-break-sites-video-674949
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ffrankmccaffery
March 4th 2010
10. He's a buffoon for his actions in the article above and smug for sporting that self-satisfied grin whenever he's on the box.
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mpeskett
March 3rd 2010
9. "Blackadder was a long time ago."
Because of course the only thing of any consequence that Fry's been involved with was Blackadder. He's still a celebrity of sorts, after this much time, purely on the back of a few parts in one show from 20 years ago.
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optimaximal
March 3rd 2010
8. @ffrankmccaffery
So because someone is both popular *and* moderately intelligent, he's automatically a smug buffoon? He's helping technology get traction in ways its previously may not have by humanising it
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nicolasmerritt
March 3rd 2010
7. Smug buffoon? The man's neither. Tad harsh there. Ubiquitous? Probably. Rather Fry than Jordan though.
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ffrankmccaffery
March 3rd 2010
6. is there any place where this smug buffoon isn't present? he's in every other program, in adverts, in the news and now on a bloody technology site. Blackadder was a long time ago.
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paul
March 3rd 2010
5. He's not boasting about it - he's explaining how to tries to warn site owners before he tweets a link to their site. I'm sure if they replied and said "please don't!" then he wouldn't tweet the link.
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nicolasmerritt
March 3rd 2010
4. In the interests of balance, this is only a snippet from a longer interview. And he does say he will try to warn people if he thinks their server is going to get taken out.
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roscoewizzle
March 3rd 2010
3. I think that's a fair point pete_I. Don't see why he needs to boast about crashing a website. He's a smart lad, he should be aware of the consiquences of these types of actions.
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nicolasmerritt
March 3rd 2010
2. Yes, what the world *really* needs is more ways for celebrities to accumulate power and influence.
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pete_l
March 3rd 2010
1. "slashdotting" has it's been known for years is not a new effect - It's happened a lot when slashdot (hence the name) posts a link in one of it's articles.
However, I'd hope this guy would take a bit of responsibility for his actions and keep his links to himself. When you have millions of sheep hanging on your every tweet, you have to realise that they will do stupid things when told to. Therefore you have to act with restraint. (I'm sure some would be dumb enough to jump in front of a train if Fry said so - and these people can vote? sheesh!)
Now that he's aware of the damaging effect his twitterings have on the internet I'd hope that website owners either forbid him from posting their address (though how that would stand up I do not know, malicious intent? DoS?) or at least send him the bill for putting things right. With power comes responsibility
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