Twiplomacy

Via the Miami HeraldDiplomacy in 140 characters: World leaders take to Twitter, gain followers

Among world leaders who engage in “twiplomacy” — the use of Twitter for diplomatic relations — President Barack Obama wins superlatives for the most followers but Pope Francis is the most influential, according to a new survey by Burson-Marsteller.

[…]

The global public relations and communications firm found that more than three-quarters of world leaders are on Twitter

[…]

It analyzed 505 top government accounts in 153 countries. Almost half were personal accounts of heads of state, heads of government, foreign ministers and their institutions. About one-third of world leaders personally tweeted.

The study said all 45 European governments are on Twitter, and, with the exception of Suriname, all Latin American countries are, too. In North America, 79 percent of leading government officials have Twitter accounts. It falls off slightly for Asia and Africa, where 76 percent and 71 percent of governments, respectively, use Twitter.

I must confess, when Twitter first emerged I had no idea what to do with it, and I certainly never thought it would become a medium by which governments attempted to communicate with the public.

The article is worth a quick read.

FILED UNDER: Africa, US Politics, World Politics, , , ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. CSK says:

    May we refer to them as “twiplomats”?

  2. Tillman says:

    I’d say deception is harder when you’re forced to be concise, but God always invents a better fool.

  3. Tony W says:

    @CSK: I prefer “Twit-lo-mats”

  4. CSK says:

    @Tony W:

    Indeed. That would be the appropriate designation for some, past and present.