Benjamin Cohen:Lady Thatcher has been the first major British figure to have died in the age of Facebook and Twitter

Benjamin Cohen is Founding Publisher of PinkNews.co.uk, Broadcaster and journalist.  Follow Ben on Twitter.

We always seem to remember where we were and how we learnt about the death of an iconic figure. It is engraved in my memory that it was on a Sunday morning on a now defunct local TV news station, Channel One, where first I learnt of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. 

When I recount how I learnt of the death of Margaret Thatcher though, I will have to say that it was seeing a photograph of a bottle of champagne being popped open and reading the words "ding dong, the witch is dead". The poster, a television executive, helpfully linked to a YouTube clip from the Wizard of Oz, where I watched the Munchkins sing celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. It was only by reading the comments below the link that I realised that one of the most iconic leaders we have ever known had died.

Lady Thatcher has been the first major British figure to have died in the age of Facebook and Twitter. The first person whose death has become the immediate subject of debate, despair and celebration and a person whose death in my eyes has revealed a darker side to social networking.