Leaders

8 www.digitaldaya.com Leaders WhoTwitter In the world of social media there is no more prolific and up-to-the-minute communication platform than Twitter. With 15.8 million Twitter profiles and a whopping albeit non-unique 2.29 billion followers, this micro-blogging platform has become the World's chatter box. The trending bits of information that spread through Twitter influence what’s being talked about around the world and spark actions of unprecedented scale. So in our World where over half the planet has turned democratic and under the precept that true democracy is founded on an inclusive government always ready to engage directly with its citizenry, the Twitter platform offers an unique opportunity for heads of state to bring discourse and debate directly to the public. Our research shows that of the 163 countries recognized by the U.N, only 24 countries have leaders or government-sanctioned agencies that use social media platform Twitter. That’s a mere 15% of all countries worldwide and only 22% of today's democracies. Interestingly, data indicate that 21 of the 24 countries with leaders or agencies that useTwitter are stable, consolidated democracies. In other words, 84% of governments that deploy social media are fully democratic, and nearly all of these countries are stable. Is Social Media aThreat to the Stability of a Regime? U.S. President Obama has a huge following on Twitter and is a regular contributor to the Tweet board. He’s also been employing Twitter longer than any other leader, entering his 140 character messages since 2007. President Obama also employed social media during his election campaign to raise funds. Many pundits and talking heads have labeled the U.S. president the “first official elected through social media,” and there’s certainly enough empirical data to support that claim. However, democracy is not necessarily a pre- requisite for active users of Twitter. Many leaders heading governments labeled as “non-democratic” employ Twitter to good effect – to engage the people of their countries.The more critical factor seems to be the stability of the country as measured by the fragility index. A sombre day;His Majesty & I received the bodies of 3 courageous Jordanian peacekeepers killed in Haiti.God bless their souls 5:02AM Jan 19th Queen Rania http://www.twitter.com/ QueenRania Real Leaders Tweet How Heads of State are Engaging Their Citizens On The World Wide Web Overall,96% of all national leaders who have activeTwitter profiles are from either stable and/or democratic nations.