Is Twitter the New Face of Diplomacy?
The world was shocked when it was released that North Korea joined Twitter. In a land where censorship is nothing out of the ordinary, joining a social network like Twitter seemed like an unlikely move. The official Twitter account, @uriminzok has a surprising 10,000 followers but it doesn’t follow a single other account. With quick help from Google Translate, the Twitter feed can be roughly translated to English but this provides little help in understanding many of the tweets. Why join a social network if one does not intend to be social?
Despite a lack of interaction via Twitter, US State Department Spokesman Phillip J. Crowley has made numerous attempts to create a dialog between the US and North Korea with pointed tweets and hashtags of #Korea. He has even gone so far as to specifically reference the country’s censorship on public communication saying, “The North Korean government has joined Twitter, but is it prepared to allow its citizens to be connected as well?” Crowley is referencing a known penchant for the North Korean government for censoring media. It is believed that despite the government’s involvement in social media, the people of the country are actually unable to view such content. This paradoxical situation seems quite unfair to most of the world.
Twitter is not the only social media outlet North Korea is engaging in. They are also found on Facebook and YouTube. Is this a new form of diplomacy or just a new way to fight back at accusations? North Korea has yet to respond directly to any tweets or posts, yet they continue to tweet and post their own content which includes making accusations and harsh comments towards both South Korea and the United States. Social media could be just a way to progress their political agenda instead of communicate with the outside world. Until a response is given however, why not continue trying to reach out using social media as the new form of diplomacy?
Is It Time to Set New Internet Regulations for Political Campaigns?
A California watchdog group has recently released a report calling for more uniform regulations for internet use of “new media” in political campaigns. This is aiming at social media particularly and if people are being paid to tweet or post on behalf of political candidates or their fundraising committees. The commission report also calls for California to update is legislation regarding campaigns and media use so that it includes the latest technologies and media platforms. Could this be the start of a trend? Perhaps all states should look at their campaign regulations and integrate new social media into them. With mid-term elections on the horizon, a surge in social media use by politicians is expected. With the rise in popularity, political candidates are using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other social networks to interact with their audience and convey their campaign message. Although this is a natural evolution in campaign strategy, the same rules guiding traditional media messages should be applied. Social media is the new, more powerful, version of word-of-mouth which makes it more important to adhere to professional behavior guidelines when it comes to a campaign and more importantly, candidate opponents.
Social Media is a Continuous Political Polling System
Obama’s first Oval Office address took place this week to update America on the BP oil crisis. The reaction and backlash from his short speech was quickly seen via social media outlets Facebook and Twitter. As Mashable reports, many users were unhappy with Obama’s speech. The article did highlight how social media has become the virtual water cooler for politics today. What is really unique about this trend is that political candidates and those already in office can have direct feedback with their constituents as they “fan” or “like” posts on Facebook and then tweet about them. Followers are likely to share their honest opinions via social media as well giving the politician a clearer insight into those he or she actually represents. 
Companies such as Twitalyzer or Twitteranalyzer have made it easy to get statistics about a Twitter account. Statistics such as how many retweets or mentions an account is receiving is available with just a click of a button. The disadvantage of social media serving as the new water cooler is that it makes word-of-mouth that much more important. Information can spread at a seemingly lightning speed because it is literally at our fingertips. If someone votes on a bill or piece of legislation that constituents do not agree with, it only takes a few seconds for word to get out and spread throughout the virtual world.
Using Social Media in a Slightly Different Way
Twitter, Facebook, and similar information sharing social media networks usually inform followers what someone is doing, what is new with them, or what is on their mind. However, former governor Rod Blagojevich are using social media to update followers on their corruption trial. This is a slightly different way to incorporate social media into one’s daily life. Talk about finding a new way to get the media on your side. Blagojevich’s corruption trial involving his activities while governor of Illinois began this week and Blagojevich tweeted that he was excited for the trial to begin. Blagojevich is charged with racketeering, bribery conspiracy, extortion, and wire fraud. Clearly, Blagojevich is using social media to his advantage. He has constantly affirmed that he did nothing wrong while he was in office and revealed his confidence again via Twitter saying, “The truth is on our side.”
Former Governor Rod Blagojevich
Often, media is restricted in high profile court proceedings. Here, Blagojevich is doing his part to share what is happening inside with everyone interested on the outside. This brings up a unique issue between those in the public eye and the public itself. I feel that frequently we here celebrities, politicians, and other high profile individuals complaining about a lack of privacy. They say they are never actually alone and that they don’t like what it has done to their daily lives. In this case, Blagojevich is inviting the public to be more involved in his life. Most politicians would prefer to keep events inside the court room strictly inside the court room, regardless of guilt or innocence. I find it intriguing that Blagojevich’s newest campaign is not for an election, but merely for support and he eliminates all barriers in his power to reach his audience. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and YouTube provide the means to share any information with social media users. This is both good and bad information; biased and unbiased. There is also a greater element of freedom which is also a risk. Politicians know this. Celebrities know this. That being said, is there really room for a private life when you put yourself in the public eye? It will be interesting to see if Blagojevich can win a victory of support through his information sharing as the trial goes on. Despite any public favor gained through his latest campaign, those inside the court will be the ones to decide regardless of how many tweets Blagojevich makes protesting his innocence.
CNN’s Infusion of News, Politics, and Social Media
The major news network CNN and anchor Rick Sanchez have bridged the gap between airtime and watchers. Rick’s List airs daily from 3-5 pm ET on CNN during which Rick discusses hot topics, news, and other issues, which sounds like any ordinary news show. The catch is this: Rick uses social media to connect to watchers in real time. He shows on air the tweets at him and facebook wall posts consumers leave in response to different segments on the show allowing the audience to actually participate in the broadcast! Prior to the show, Rick will even ask his twitter followers for input. Recently, Al and Tipper Gore have announced their plans to separate. The Gulf Spill is still suffering massive setbacks to stop the oil from spewing out. Israel unrest is becoming a major threat and concern for the US. In response to these events, Rick asked his followers “u guys want more gore, oil, or Israeli?” via twitter giving them the chance to weigh in on what they want to hear about.
The downside to this infiltration of social media and news is that it leaves room for bias. Rick’s recent tweet exemplifies what I’m getting at. On the news of the Gore separation, “Breaking News! We just got word about the Gores. Working guests now. What do you think? How much of this is NEWS & how much GOSSIP?” That is the question: how much of this is gossip and how much is real? This feeds into a bigger issue. How much of this is opinion and how much is fact? The news is supposed to be an unbiased representation of what is occurring in the world at-large. Yes, the audience deserves to have its voice be heard but in an already dramatically polarized society, have we crossed the line? Is there still such a thing as an unbiased media?
Twitter takes on health care reform
There’s a lesson to be learned from yesterday’s Twitter discussion on a new statement from the Congressional Budget Office on health care reform. For our purposes, the content of the statement doesn’t matter nearly as much as Republic Mike Pence’s response to it. Somebody forgot to do their fact-checking, and Twitterers weren’t having it. The article below elaborates.
Fun “How the World Works” item in Salon on how the Twittersphere went berserk with CBO scores yesterday. Andrew Leonard writes:
You know you are living in a strange universe when the keyword “CBO” — the abbreviation for Congressional Budget Office — becomes so popular on Twitter that sleazy porn outfits like AdultFriendFinder incorporate the acronym into their tweet spam to drum up business. Call me squeamish, but I find it a little off-putting to have geeky arguments about the budgetary implications of new health care legislation interrupted by nonsense tweets attached to pictures of genitalia in compromising positions. It’s yucky.
There were also hundreds of tweets and countertweets (or counterfactual tweets?) when House Republican Mike Pence asserted via Twitter that the CBO was wrong about Medicare costs ever since the beginning. The problem: there was no CBO when Medicare had its beginning (in 1965). Who knew that America would have so many comedians familiar with the CBO. (Example: @samseder CBO completely underestimated cost of Columbus journey to America.)
Leonard concluded on a more serious note: “The battle over health care reform has fully penetrated the consciousness of the United States, whether expressed out on the street or in the voting booth or via a Twitter riff. History is being made, and we know it.”
Which world leaders are using Twitter?
A new study called “Real Leaders Tweet” found 15 percent of the world’s countries, or 24 of 163, have government leaders on Twitter. Approximately 84 percent of those countries are democratic and stable. The study also noted that countries facing political instability are likely to view social media as a threat.
Huffington Post highlighted 15 world leaders using Twitter. They are:
Latvia Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis – 1,700 followers
Philippines President Gloria Arroyo – 2,400 followers
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – 2,800 followers
Denmark Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen – 5,000 followers
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key – 8,000 followers
Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak – 12,000 followers
Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg – 15,000 followers
Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper – 48,000 followers
Chile President Sebastian Pinera – 74,000 followers
UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al Maktoum – 330,000 followers
Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama – 403,000 followers
Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd – 918,000 followers
Jordan Queen Rania Al Abdullah – 1.2 million followers
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown – 1.7 million followers
U.S. President Barack Obama – 3.4 million followers
Twitter rumor & fake account hit Australian politics
A recent social media hoax in Australia sent a controversial rumor around Twitter. The incident (described below) makes two things evident:
1. If you don’t claim your own social media space as a public figure, someone else will.
Create an official account. Even if it only features brief news updates, an official account lets the public and media know what messages come from you and which are ugly rumors. Stop misinformation before it spreads.
2. Create a social media strategy.
The article below points out using social media for the sake of using social media doesn’t proactively help you. While the first tip here deal with risk management, real benefits are seen when social media is used with purpose.
Either way, your voters are there. The media is there. At a minimum, you need to be there too.
One evening, a couple of weeks ago, the Twittersphere went into a frenzy as the following 82 characters appeared on computer and iPhone screens across the country:
Mr Rudd needs to rule out US-style death panels from his health care “reform” plan
The Twitterer responsible for the tweet was @BronwynBishopMP, a user whose profile features an official photograph of Ms Bishop and a comprehensive archive of serious, sober tweets related to her portfolio. The user’s 500+ followers (this writer included) had until that point not doubted for a moment that @BronwynBishopMP was the real deal; the account bore none of the classic hallmarks of other Twitter fakes such as comedy avatars or sarcastic tweets.
“Death panels!” screamed Twitter in response to those 82 characters, gobsmacked (but not entirely surprised) that an opposition MP in Australia had pulled out the strawman defence used by opponents of proposed US healthcare reforms. It was a beautiful moment for the online political discussion community which loves nothing more than a bit of madness in their political thrust and parry.
For the next thirty minutes mainstream journalists with Twitter accounts flailed about, desperately seeking proof or otherwise that the account was genuine, fingers hovering over the publish button on hastily-written death panel articles; the phone lines were apparently jammed at Bronwyn Bishop’s Canberra office. Eventually, journalist Lyndal Curtis got through to Bishop’s staff and announced to a breathless online network that @BronwynBishopMP was indeed fake – the real BB does not possess a Twitter account.
Looking back through the fake’s archives there is only one small clue that points towards impersonation, probably laid quite purposefully by the extremely patient faker:
One of the first issues I want to pursue is one that gets little media attention – the problem of identity theft amongst senior Australians
Overall it’s pretty nice work, you gotta admit.
It’s only one small and isolated incident, but a handy pointer to this year’s likely political and social media epicentre. Twitter looks like being the hot social media tool of the 2010 federal election, picking up where YouTube left off in 2007. In the first half of that year, as the election approached, every serving or prospective politician signed up an account, proudly displayed a YouTube graphic on their websites, and did … something. Social media efforts back then ranged from stiff and sickening videos from Prime ministerial incumbent John Howard and challenger Kevin Rudd, to some truly bizarre efforts from obscure Senate hopefuls such as Stewart “hammer the screw” Glass.
But it’s highly doubtful that any of the enthusiastic YouTube stuff swung more than a handful of votes, if it swung a single vote at all. If anything, electioneering YouTube videos did nothing more than provide fodder for journalists looking for something to report and rusted-on political bloggers looking for something to take the piss out of. When social media is used for its own sake there is unlikely to be any real benefit for the user.
Coming back to the future, it’s also highly doubtful that the class of 2010’s Twitter efforts will be any more successful at changing votes. While social media – if used cleverly – is probably an effective medium for organising and mobilising existing support, its effectiveness in influencing support is less clear.
Unfortunately, at this time there’s no real way of making assessments about social media’s impact on political outcomes beyond broad, anecdotal observations. Political analyst Possum Comitatus says the impact probably won’t be properly measurable until after this year’s poll because social media didn’t hit a critical mass of users until about 2008. But based on social media’s larger role in American politics, Possum reckons it so far seems to have potential in the areas of small donor fundraising and debunking of myths propagated by political opponents. At the most recent Presidential election, social media “definitely succeeded in the first,” says Possum, while efforts at debunking myths were “pretty much a dismal failure.”
Back here in Australia we are starting to see a preview of how Twitter might be used in the lead up to this year’s federal election. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is a reasonably prolific tweeter who (between he and his team) pumps out a steady stream of carefully-crafted on-message units of spin, interrupted very occasionally by an insight into the Rudd family’s cinema preferences. Opposition leader Tony Abbott maintains a Twitter account (as does his penis, strangely enough), although his tweets are sparse and tentative. There are a few dozen other politicians active on Twitter but, by-and-large, their efforts are fairly dry and uninspiring.
It’s a bit of a shame, really, because through Twitter a politician has a chance to communicate directly with their supporters and potential supporters, transmitting their message while revealing a little bit of the human personality behind the grey exterior that often dominates their public image. This, combined with the interactivity built into the core of social media, can maximise the connection voters might feel with politicians and possibly influence votes. But just like in 2007, simply putting a Twitter badge on your website and making a few cursory and unidirectional efforts at using the tool will result in precisely zero impact on your electoral prospects.
We’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out, of course, but in the meantime we simply must give a special mention to Victorian state opposition leader Ted Baillieu who last week went above and beyond the call of political duty, taking time out from electioneering to give storm and building advice to the Twitterers of Melbourne:
With extreme and heavy rainfalls on unattended construction sites over 2-3 days, exposed foundations may need extra attention and repair
Good on ya, Ted.
more on the White House & Twitter
It seems like the White House’s use of Twitter is constantly in the news. Here’s the latest from Associated Press.
If you’re PressSec — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ username on Twitter — you join the powerful social media platform and push your message across the Internet, 140 characters at a time.
Blending behind-the-scenes nuggets with a defense of President Barack Obama’s record, White House and administration officials increasingly are communicating through Twitter.
The popular social network is operating as a Web-based clearinghouse for public statements on weighty subjects (the federal budget) and the mundane (personal grocery lists). It’s similar to a bulletin board where anyone can post short notes and users cull the pieces they see by choosing to “follow” individuals’ account.
Forget press releases. Gibbs and his deputy, Bill Burton, are now sharing news in Twitter messages. So far 35,000 people have signed up to follow Gibbs and more than 6,000 are tracking Burton. Those two officials have a ways to go to catch actor Ashton Kutcher and his 4.6 million followers.
“Wow unreal game… POTUS watched OT in his office right off the Oval Office — all of us are so proud of our great team,” Gibbs tweeted during the men’s Olympic hockey finals last Sunday, when the Americans lost the gold medal game to Canada in overtime. POTUS, of course, is the acronym for president of the United States.
Burton offered a midgame, inside-the-Beltway joke: “Tied! White House response, on bgnd, from a low- to midlevel administration official: USA! USA! USA!” (He was referring to a favorite administration request when talking to the press “on background” means the official won’t be identified publicly.) After the U.S. loss, Burton noted that America still led the overall medal race.
These are hardly the pronouncements one expects from the president’s top spokesmen. But as Obama’s team continues an online strategy set in place during the campaign and imported to Pennsylvania Avenue, it seems only natural that they would make it a piece of a broader communications plan that extends across the government.
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice tweets about diplomacy, Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela tweets about the Western Hemisphere and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke tweets about trade.
“Welcome back, furloughed DOTers!” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tweeted recently to his employees.
With a news cycle now measured in seconds rather than days, administration officials recognize they must embrace this rapid pace and use the same tactics as the critics who assail them and the reporters who cover them. Gibbs, who is Obama’s chief defender, has signaled that the White House won’t cede any ground online.
Twitter began four years ago as a microblogging site to follow the activities of celebrities such as Lance Armstrong, the bicycling champion whose account was the first one Gibbs followed.
Since then, it has proved to be a powerful tool for mobilizing causes and protest movements by allowing people to use common phrases to link subjects by theme. In Washington, that translates into hashtags — key words preceded by the symbol for a pound sign — such as (pound sign)whitehouse or (pound sign)gop that users key in to find connected nuggets.
“There’s a whole language, obviously, and typing with numbers and symbols that has evaded me,” Gibbs said. “I’m sure my son could teach me that far better than I could pick it up.”
Twitter also lets users communicate directly with each other, either through public messages using (at) symbols or through private messages. In many ways, it can be used as an e-mail system in which messages are completely public but limited to just 140 letters, numbers or symbols.
Obama’s aides are fast students of Twitter’s etiquette and uses. The White House announced Obama’s first news conference on Twitter last year. Burton has been known to clarify Gibbs’ comments while Gibbs is still speaking from the White House podium. Officials share with their followers news reports the White House views as positive.
Burton explained — in a tweet, no less — the approach.
“(At)PressSec is using this new medium in a way that gets information out quickly and effectively tracks what is on the minds of our press corps,” he responded to a tweet from this reporter, PElliottAP.
Obama’s campaign team built an Internet-based direct engagement model to win the White House and adapted the plan once in Washington. At the Democratic National Committee, aides continue to update the political BarackObama account, which operates separately from the White House tweets. Those are treated as formal communications and will be filed away as part of the presidential archive along with legal memos and policy documents.
In tandem with their quick bursts of information on Twitter, the online White House routinely turns to its blog, Facebook page or YouTube channel where Obama now posts his weekly address.
“All of these things are basically entirely new to government, but have become a standard part of White House operations, with top White House officials recognizing their value and placing them as top priorities, giving the public equal footing in a world where, for most of history, government has had to engage and communicate with them through the press or interest groups,” White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.
For instance, 60,000 people went to the White House Web site last fall to watch Obama speak to a joint session of Congress on health care, and one-third of them stayed on the site after it was over to talk with administration officials about the speech.
Macon Phillips, the White House new media director who tweets as macon44, said the online chat allowed officials to get “a taste of what questions the actual public had in raw form — rather than simply the questions cable news and Beltway pundits have.”
On the Net:
- White House Twitter: http://twitter.com/whitehouse
- White House Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/
- White House YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse
If You Can’t Say Something Nice…
Labour chairman David Wright Labour MP Party of Telford, allegedly used the words “Scum sucking pig” in a Tweet, to describle the Tories, (conservative party in the UK). Currently he is claiming that a third party tinkered with his account adding the words scum sucking- to what should have read “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.”
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