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Spectator editorial: Political tweets
Twitter gives politicians a chance to interact with citizens
Spectator staff
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
It started with MySpace and Facebook. Now Twitter is the new social network people are using - including politicians.
According to a May 3 Green Bay Press Gazette article, politicians across the state and country are starting to use Twitter to get their messages out.
Twitter is considered to be easier than Facebook. It is a good idea for politicians to start using this new media to reach out to their constituents. It also gives politicians a faster way to interact with the citizens.
According to the article, many politicians are also using the network to their advantage. In March, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) announced he was running for governor on Twitter.
Twitter has become a phenomenon, and it is interesting to see politicians using this tool that doesn't have the stigma of belonging to a certain demographic.
This new, free medium also allows politicians to be less formal, but no matter what they say, they will sometimes be scrutinized for what they write.
According to the article, some politicians are not only using Twitter to announce political messages, but also using it like a regular citizen. Republican candidate for governor Scott Walker sent a ''tweet'' that said he was "driving past the Butterfly Inn … believe it or not, I took my first homecoming date there for dinner."
Using Twitter humanizes politicians in the citizens' eyes, and it can help them reach out to people on a more personal level.
However, sending a ''tweet" only allows people to write up to 140 characters. This could be dangerous, given the fact that messages are shorter, and it could turn into misinterpreted political messages.
People who follow politicians' ''tweets'' should understand that what they are reading may have missing information, so they have to be conscious when reading politicians' messages.
With every new media that comes up, politicians are going to make the best of it, but they need to keep in mind that they should be as clear as possible when they write their ''tweets'' so they don't mislead the people they work for.
According to a May 3 Green Bay Press Gazette article, politicians across the state and country are starting to use Twitter to get their messages out.
Twitter is considered to be easier than Facebook. It is a good idea for politicians to start using this new media to reach out to their constituents. It also gives politicians a faster way to interact with the citizens.
According to the article, many politicians are also using the network to their advantage. In March, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) announced he was running for governor on Twitter.
Twitter has become a phenomenon, and it is interesting to see politicians using this tool that doesn't have the stigma of belonging to a certain demographic.
This new, free medium also allows politicians to be less formal, but no matter what they say, they will sometimes be scrutinized for what they write.
According to the article, some politicians are not only using Twitter to announce political messages, but also using it like a regular citizen. Republican candidate for governor Scott Walker sent a ''tweet'' that said he was "driving past the Butterfly Inn … believe it or not, I took my first homecoming date there for dinner."
Using Twitter humanizes politicians in the citizens' eyes, and it can help them reach out to people on a more personal level.
However, sending a ''tweet" only allows people to write up to 140 characters. This could be dangerous, given the fact that messages are shorter, and it could turn into misinterpreted political messages.
People who follow politicians' ''tweets'' should understand that what they are reading may have missing information, so they have to be conscious when reading politicians' messages.
With every new media that comes up, politicians are going to make the best of it, but they need to keep in mind that they should be as clear as possible when they write their ''tweets'' so they don't mislead the people they work for.
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