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Shel Holtz
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Public bodies can’t manage a Twitter account? WTF?

Shel HoltzNeville Hobson just tweeted a link to a news story in the Croydon Guardian about the suspension of a Twitter account. In a nutshell, the Croydon Council had launched a print newspaper for distribution to residents of the town to ensure they received town news distributed principally through press releases. Someone on the staff had set up a Twitter account and then mistakenly sent was was supposed to be a direct message as a regular old tweet for all to see. The tweet was critical of a reporter at the Evening Standard.

The newspaper was instructed to stop using the account as a result.

It was a couple of quotes from the Guardian article that prompted this post. The first one is from “a spokesman”—no other details than that:

It???s the firm belief that the Your Croydon publication needs to concentrate on developing its identity in print, not cyberspace.

Now, I’m a supporter of print and a believer in its value, but this statement still prompted a WTF moment for me. After all, print is a one-way channel and fewer and fewer people rely on print as a means of obtaining their information. It’s startling to hear the representative of any town council suggesting the its interests are best served by ignoring the online world in favor of a print publication. Perhaps the use of the word “cyberspace,” which I hardly hear at all any more, is indicative of just how out of touch this council is.

But it was the second quote that caused my jaw to drop. This one came from Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the Labour group that was quick to condemn the misuse of the twitter account:

How anyone could ever suggest that a public body could control a Twitter account is beyond me.

It would appear that what is beyond Mr. Newman isn’t beyond any number of public bodies—city and town councils in particular. The Oxford City Council is on Twitter. So is the Glasgow City Council, the NewCastle City Council, the New York City Council...the list goes on and on and on.

There are one or two public bodies in the U.S. federal government on Twitter, as well, as evidenced by this list from the amazing Twitter Fan Wiki):

You have to wonder just how many things are beyond Mr. Newman. Do politicians even consider research before shooting from the hip?

06/19/09 | 8 Comments | Public bodies can’t manage a Twitter account? WTF?

Comments

  • 1.Living in a small city myself, I can say that councilors leave us no shortage of WTF moments. (example courtesy of a multiple offender: http://blogs.townonline.com/newton/2009/06/18/north-parents-need-to-meet-with-your-kids-teacher-at-730-am-lenny-gentile-thinks-youre-a-moron/)

    I am never surprised by such things

    Doug Haslam | June 2009 | Boston

  • 2.Shel, you can find 1,500 examples of global gov using Twitter @ http://govtwit.com Also, "cyberspace" still in use/vogue as evidenced by President Obama's release of the "Cyberspace Policy Report" just two weeks ago.

    Steve Lunceford | June 2009

  • 3.Shel, this Councillor is in the minority as you note above & can also see from global perspective @ http:govtwit.com, which has 1,500 examples of govt. On Twitter. Also note that "cyberspace" is still used/in vogue as evidenced by President Obama's release of the U.S. "Cyberspace Policy Review" just two weeks ago.

    Steve Lunceford | June 2009

  • 4.I think you're now off his Christmas card list.

    Bob | June 2009 | Ottawa

  • 5.Maybe he ought to withhold contributions to @britishredcross, which could do FAR more humanitarian service by killing trees to report its needs instead of wasting all day on Social Media.

    Ike | June 2009 | Birmingham, AL

  • 6.Indeed, even in Croydon there are four councillors - all from the same party as Cllr Newman, who think Twitter is a perfectly good way to communicate with the public:
    http://cllrtweeps.com/cllrs/councils/london-borough-of-croydon/

    Cllr Tweeps | June 2009 | London

  • 7.Twitter is great way to communicate. I think it is very difficult to mistake a private message with a full blown tweet. But to say that a public body could not control a twitter account is certainly a jaw dropper. If they have a certain amount of control as far as government related procedures or for that matter delivering the news- I sure as $%#& hope they can control a twitter account!

    I am from Kansas and WTF moments concerning cyberspace are plenty! My jaw drops repeatedly through out the day to hear the number of business owners etc. say that they need to focus on offline strategies because they don't believe that online has much to do with their business.

    Pam Renovato | June 2009 | Topeka, KS

  • 8.Excellent post, Shel.
    First, I don't think it's that hard to mistakenly send out a tweet instead of a DM, especially on a mobile device. That being said, shutting down the account is a ridiculous overkill.

    I love your list of public bodies on Twitter, by the way!

    Donna Papacosta | January 2010 | Toronto

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