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Gordon Brown Twitters
4/21/2008 - posted under Social Media
by Duncan Parry
by Duncan Parry
As reported here, Gordon Brown has apparently opened a Twitter account, and the UK Cabinet Office minister for transformational government is to publish guidelines on how social media/web 2.0 can be used to learn how people communicate online, and improve how government communicates with the public.
Now, Social Media Optimization's take on this is:
"Wow. A government looking to use social media to enter in, and converse with, its citizens. What a novel idea!
...This is pretty amazing stuff. I thought the U.S. Presidential campaign was pretty cutting edge with the ways that the campaigns have used social media tools, especially YouTube to get their message across. But what the government is doing in the UK from a social media standpoint is much more evolved."
If I didn't live in the UK, then I would probably agree. But...and you saw this coming...I don't.
I am all for governments using the web to communicate better with the their employers - the public - but the UK government aren't that impressive when it comes to the web, data security or computers at a whole.
In fact they pretty much suck. A brief recap:
Now, Social Media Optimization's take on this is:
"Wow. A government looking to use social media to enter in, and converse with, its citizens. What a novel idea!
...This is pretty amazing stuff. I thought the U.S. Presidential campaign was pretty cutting edge with the ways that the campaigns have used social media tools, especially YouTube to get their message across. But what the government is doing in the UK from a social media standpoint is much more evolved."
If I didn't live in the UK, then I would probably agree. But...and you saw this coming...I don't.
I am all for governments using the web to communicate better with the their employers - the public - but the UK government aren't that impressive when it comes to the web, data security or computers at a whole.
In fact they pretty much suck. A brief recap:
- NHS systems that cost millions and aren't delivered
- Data security breaches that are laughable and happening as I type this, no doubt
- A government portal that has been renamed and relaunched* and still nobody has heard of it
- An office of the e-envoy (yes, the link to the Cabinet Office website from here is on a 404), sorry an Internet Tsar, sorry the Cabinet Office...actually I think the Inland Revenue are responsible for Internet policy these days, oh hang on, they renamed that too..and their data protection and online record sucks, anyway
So, the UK government, a PM with falling ratings, and Twitter, a social media site that some file away under light-weight fad...now that sounds like the start of a brilliant, well-thought out strategy for using social media sites to engage with the public, doesn't it?
Besides, who wants Alastair Darling on their Facebook? Yuck.
*Based on the whims of different ministers no doubt (Open.gov.uk, Direct.gov.uk, sorry, soon to be renamed WhatsThisWebsiteThingyAgain?.gov.uk)
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