World Leaders On Twitter

G Research Note: World Leader Rankings on Twitter October 2010  1    World Leaders On Twitter How heads of state are engaging their citizens on the World Wide Web overnance is no longer a constant – Accelerating social change and deepening globalization have created new challenges for governments in the 21st Century. Today, enlightened governments and their leaders have turned to social media to connect with constituents at home and abroad. Governments are turning more and more to social media to put a “face” to government and to express political views and agendas. So who is leading the charge? The Digital Policy Council (DPC) research provides analyses on government leaders and institutions of government employing social media outlets to engage the populations that these individuals and government entities lead. The increase in information velocity brought about through the use of Internet technology, and more specifically, through the use of social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and other networking sites, provides for new opportunities for governments to rethink and reshape how they govern and the political discourse with their citizenry. This research note provides an update to the ranking of heads of state engaged on the social media website Twitter. The DPC has been tracking this activity since 2009 and issued its first report Real Leaders Tweet in Feb 2010 that examined how heads of state around the world are using the World Wide Web to engage their citizens. Updates To World Rankings The Movement Towards Open Government The DPC has recorded a strong movement towards open government as more leaders are aggressively pursuing social media channels as a new of type of direct communication with their citizens and the global community. Analyses as of October 2010 reveals that 20%, or one out of five heads of state, are at present on the social media site Twitter. A total of 33 world leaders out of 163 countries have accounts on Twitter set up in their personal name or through an official government office. This represents a 50% increase in the number of countries from the last quarter of 2009. The idea of governments to openly engage their citizens and the global community directly was brought to the forefront on December 8, 2009, when the White House issued an open government directive. President Obama signed into effect a commitment of his administration to create an unprecedented level of openness in government. The memorandum outlined three key principles that government must be transparent, participatory, and collaborative. www.digitaldaya.com