Charles Dharapak/AP Photo
President Obama tweeting during a "Twitter Town Hall" at the White House in July 2011.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, twiplomacy is a thing. It's a term that refers to national governments' Twitter accounts and how their leaders use them to communicate with citizens. PR firm Burson-Marstellar has just conducted the very first study on twiplomacy, and they found that almost two-thirds of the 193 member states of the United Nations have created accounts.
Who's the most popular tweeter leader (leader tweeter)? The prize goes to @BarackObama who has more than 17.8 million followers. Obama also has the most retweeted single tweet of all government officials in the study. Maybe you remember this one:
Screenshot by Dara Kerr/CNET
This tweet is particularly special because it was written by Obama himself, as evidenced by his signature. Though "45% of the 246 accounts analyzed are personal accounts of heads of state and government," the study says, "just 30 world leaders tweet themselves and very few on a regular basis."
Twitter can be a great way to have direct, unfiltered communication with users, but few world leaders use this tool to build connections with peers around the world, Burson-Marstellar says.
A quarter of world leaders and governments follow President Barack Obama and the White House, but @BarackObama and the @WhiteHouse have established mutual Twitter relations with only three other world leaders: Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, the UK Prime Minister and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev.
Twiplomacy, it seems, is still a young trend. Heads of state in China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Italy have yet to jump on the twandwagon (that one's a stretch). Perhaps in the future we'll see more world leaders use this medium as a new form of communication with their citizens, and with one another. For now, President Obama reigns as the top twiplomat.
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I don't think World Leaders should "tweet" in public...at least not on purpose. But that is what a Michelle mandated diet of Ragullala and Brocolli will do to you. George Herbert Walker Bush knew better, just say no to Brocolli!
Uh, Fuzzy, why is Jimmy Carter a "failed, one term president," and G.H.W. Bush isn't? Is a post-Presidency Nobel Prize the difference?
And given your penchant for flatulence in prose that you repeatedly put on display here, you might be advised not to comment on possible stray odors.
George Herbert Walker Bush prosecuted and won a war with huge allied support, and gave in to a Democrat Party Majority's so called deal to give 1 part tax increases to their 2 parts spending cuts in the face of a standard business cycle recession, only to be stung by the renegging of the Dasterdly Dems. That cost him the election.
Carter was a failed President, held hostage by Iran, and inpotent in the face of the Oil Cartel's damaging severely our economy thru the oil embargo. He was incompetant.
Do I really have to teach you everything, Cab Driver?