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| Work experience teen takes over Southern Rail's Twitter | Work experience teen takes over Southern Rail's Twitter |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| A 15-year-old work experience student from south London was left in charge of Southern Rail's Twitter account on Tuesday. | |
| And for a feed usually dominated by the complaints of angry commuters, things soon turned pretty surreal. | And for a feed usually dominated by the complaints of angry commuters, things soon turned pretty surreal. |
| The teenager introduced himself on the social network at just after 2.30pm. | The teenager introduced himself on the social network at just after 2.30pm. |
| Within moments Southern Rail's 161,000 followers were tweeting Eddie questions. Probably a welcome change for the beleaguered rail firm, which has faced months of criticism from customers for cancelled services and strike action. A bitter dispute over the role of guards has affected Southern passengers for more than a year. | Within moments Southern Rail's 161,000 followers were tweeting Eddie questions. Probably a welcome change for the beleaguered rail firm, which has faced months of criticism from customers for cancelled services and strike action. A bitter dispute over the role of guards has affected Southern passengers for more than a year. |
| Eddie was quick to respond to the hypothetical duck vs horse question. | Eddie was quick to respond to the hypothetical duck vs horse question. |
| Eddie continued tackling a variety of topics such as football and his GCSEs, and answered a question on how he secured work experience at the rail company from someone wishing to do the same. | |
| "I applied through a friend that worked here, although if you DM us your email address we can forward this onto HR." | "I applied through a friend that worked here, although if you DM us your email address we can forward this onto HR." |
| You might also like | You might also like |
| Although some customers asked about travel, most questions were directed at Eddie's personal interests. "What video games do you play?" asked another Twitter user | Although some customers asked about travel, most questions were directed at Eddie's personal interests. "What video games do you play?" asked another Twitter user |
| "Hi, I don't play a great deal but when i do it is usually FIFA," Eddie replied. But it was his response to a random question about whether a boy could swim faster than a shark that earned the teenage schoolboy the kudos all social media users crave. | "Hi, I don't play a great deal but when i do it is usually FIFA," Eddie replied. But it was his response to a random question about whether a boy could swim faster than a shark that earned the teenage schoolboy the kudos all social media users crave. |
| "Hi, I don't think so but you never know there could be a girl that can," Eddie responded, prompting replies of "great work Eddie" and " I love you". | "Hi, I don't think so but you never know there could be a girl that can," Eddie responded, prompting replies of "great work Eddie" and " I love you". |
| Occasionally a tweet by one of Southern Rail's regular Twitter team, named Neil, appeared on the feed in response to customers unimpressed by the online discussions. "Nobody wishes to troll a 15 year old, but Eddie should be made well aware how lives are being ruined by GTR," remarked one Twitter user. | |
| "We're showing a 15 year old the wonderful world of work today. Appreciate if you could lay off the abuse for a bit," was the response. | |
| Other hypothetical questions followed as did Eddie's quick responses. | Other hypothetical questions followed as did Eddie's quick responses. |
| "Rollerblades for feet." Eddie replied. "I feel like I would get used to them pretty quickly and be able to get places quicker! | "Rollerblades for feet." Eddie replied. "I feel like I would get used to them pretty quickly and be able to get places quicker! |
| While another Tweeter joked: "And you'd get there faster than on a @SouthernRailUK service too." | While another Tweeter joked: "And you'd get there faster than on a @SouthernRailUK service too." |
| A spokesperson for Southern Rail said Eddie would be back on Twitter duty on Wednesday. | A spokesperson for Southern Rail said Eddie would be back on Twitter duty on Wednesday. |
| "We had planned for him to sit with our control team tomorrow and learn about train planning, however he loved his time on Twitter today and he clearly has a natural talent for it so he will most likely be paying us a visit tomorrow." | "We had planned for him to sit with our control team tomorrow and learn about train planning, however he loved his time on Twitter today and he clearly has a natural talent for it so he will most likely be paying us a visit tomorrow." |
| By Rozina Sini, BBC's UGC and Social News Team | By Rozina Sini, BBC's UGC and Social News Team |