Image copyright Reuters

When George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI many people tweeted him, and many of them were angry. But many people tweeted the wrong man.

George Papadopoulos, an American financial planner and accountant and nothing to do with alleged meetings between the Trump campaign and Russia, has had an interesting social media experience since news broke regarding his namesake on Monday.

He has, however, greeted the attention with good humour.

Other people mistaken for celebrities have tweeted him to express their support. Michael Bolton, who happens to share the same name as the balladeer, commiserated.

However, James Taylor, not the former England cricketer but sometimes confused with the singer-songwriter, chipped in with the idea of forming a bootleg band.

"So... when do we go on tour?" asked Mr Papadopoulos, the accountant.

"Let's go," replied Mr Taylor, not the singer-songwriter.

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'Banter or engagement'

Similarly, other Twitter accounts which happen to share a name with the well-known have had their share of attention, positive and negative.

While John Lewis, not the retail store, ended up with a series of personalised gifts, Joe Hart the comedian took a lot of criticism aimed at the England goalkeeper after his performances at Euro 2016.

Edward Snowden's Twitter experience changed when his namesake, a former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, leaked secret data to Wikileaks and the media.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Edward Snowden who made headlines in 2013

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Snowden recounted: "Some people had their conspiracy theories about me being him, some people were probably naive on how to use Twitter and tagged me unnecessarily and others probably wanted the banter or engagement.

"It was a whirlwind as I had no idea who he was and there was a lot of interaction from people. There were a lot of people who thought he was a hero and a lot thought he was a traitor.

"The communication was contrasting and varied. Twitter remains a good source of information and humour and I would say it's enhanced my enjoyment."

'Enjoy it'

Mr Snowden said the NSA whistle-blower has not been in touch with him. He said it is a "shame" and would have been "interesting" to talk with him.

Does he have any advice for George Papadopoulos and victims of mistaken identities?

"Enjoy it," says Mr Snowden. "Engage with people in a light hearted way and there is good humorous conversation to be had. Don't worry about threatening comments - they're not aimed at you directly or so, you hope!"

However, the final word should go to George.