….::: VOX POPULI :::….

A Governor Tweets: Propaganda or Engagement?

Posted by Mark Headd under Open Government, Twitter

According to the one and only tweet in his account, Delaware Governor Jack Markell will “officially” join the Twitterverse at an upcoming event on February 3rd.

Although I imagine the public relations potential of Governor Markell joining the scores of other federal, state and local officials on Twitter is not lost on his staff, if the Governor is serious about embracing Twitter it could open up a new way for citizens to engage and communicate with him.

So, as the Governor prepares to “activate” his Twitter account, it makes sense for the citizens and taxpayers he serves in Delaware (particularity those of us that tweet) to ask whether this will mean propaganda or engagement.

WonderTwit powers, activate!

The Governor’s first tweet doesn’t bode well (in my mind anyway) for those of us eager to see his new account used to engage citizens and encourage communication with taxpayers.

I find the notion of “launching” a Twitter account that has already been created a bit odd. There is no way that I am aware of to create an “inactive” Twitter account – inactive accounts are those that Twitter considers abandoned.

By virtue of having a Twitter profile, the Governor’s account is indeed active. He could send tweets from it now, and could have sent tweets from it starting on the date it was first activated - June 19th, 2009 - a full 228 days prior to the date of this post.

However, even if the Governor has chosen not to tweet since last June, because his account is active anyone that uses Twitter can send a message directly to him by formatting a Tweet as a @reply (technically referred to as a “@mention” by Twitter).

I did this very thing not too long ago, sending a link I hoped the Governor would read before “officially” joining the Twitterverse.

Still waiting on a response…

Twitter engagement and communication

The @mention feature of Twitter is not one that can be turned off. Everyone has the ability to view tweets that @mention them by simply going to the proper tab on their Twitter home page (its worth noting that any one of the many Twitter clients can make checking, organizing and responding to @mentions quite easy).

It is this feature that has attracted people (like myself) interested in leveraging Twitter as a way to send messages directly to elected officials.

In early 2009, I develop a service called Hear Me Say This which uses IVR technology with Twitter to allow people to send recorded messages to members of Congress. Other people have taken this same approach to send messages directly to elected officials on Twitter using @mentions.

The critical issue for any elected official that uses Twitter is how they will handle tweets that @mention them. They are a potentially useful tool for citizens and activists because they can be sent directly to the official who owns the account (unless that official wants to fess up that someone is ghost tweeting for them). They can also be used to develop support for a cause or issue because friends and followers can retweet status messages (including those that @mention others).

Some elected officials may bank on the fact that responding directly to @mentions from their constituents can be portrayed as being unreasonable burdensome. One can certainly understand why the Governors of California or Michigan (both of whom are prolific tweeters) might be able to get away with not reposing to @mentions (for the record, I don’t know that they do).

However, most Delawareans have different expectations about personal interactions with their elected officials.

Only in Delaware…

Delaware’s small size, concentrated population and cordial political environment come together to create an atmosphere where it is not uncommon to bump into an elected official on the street, or at the gym, or in a store and engage them in a conversation.

Its not uncommon to bump into a Governor, a U.S. Senator or a Member of Congress while out for a jog (I once passed Congressman Mike Castle running at a park near my house), at the gym (I had a nice conversation with Senator Tom Carper between reps at the YMCA about the health care bill several weeks back) or at a gas station (I once stood in line with Joe Biden at a Greenville gas station).

Delaware isn’t a place where elected officials can get away with being insulated from citizens by surrounding themselves with an entourage or a group of handlers. People here aren’t surprised when they run into an elected official at the gas station or the corner store, and I think many expect to be able to interact with them.

So its only logical to ask whether this same type of interaction will work when Governor Markell officially “launches” his Twitter account.

It can work if the Governor decides (as many forward thinking politicians on Twitter already have) that using social networking services like Twitter will provide new opportunities for transparency and citizen contact.

Will the Governor respond to the following when he attends the upcoming Delaware Tweetup on February 3rd:

• Does he intend to use his Twitter account personally (even if he isn’t the exclusive user of the account) as a way to make his administration more open, transparent and receptive to citizen communication?
• Will he commit to responding to Twitter @mentions that appear to be from legitimate Twitter users, or from Delawareans that have an actual question, problem or complaint?

Whether or not Delaware’s somewhat unique brand of political interaction will work when our Governor starts tweeting is entirely up to him, and how he decides to use his newly “activated” Twitter account.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the event on February 3rd, but I sure would appreciate a response to my tweet.