World Leaders On Twitter

  Research Note: World Leader Rankings on Twitter October 2010  4  State Fragility Remains The Determining Factor It is interesting to note that the DPC's analyses shows that 95% of the countries on the list are considered politically stable reconfirming that leaders who are confident in their leadership role and assured of their political legitimacy are most comfortable with social media regardless of the form of government whether they serve in democracies, autocracies or monarchies. The political leadership of most fragile nations, those with a high degree of political instability, continue to view social media as a threat and adoption remains low. One exception to this is in Africa where a new champion of social media has emerged in the form of President Goodluck Jonathan of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The President of Africa's most populous nation has aggressively embraced social media with very active public discussions on Twitter and Facebook. While his following is still growing, he does not hesitate to make controversial announcements through his Facebook site such as his decision to stand for upcoming January 2011 presidential elections. "It's a small platform perhaps, but it offers the possibility of change." expounded President Goodluck. Next Generation Governance Open communication from heads of state through social media channels such as Twitter is only a single dimension of a much broader transformation being driven through open government. The empowerment of public service officials with new skill sets, readiness for experimentation and innovation, and opening up the government to collaboration with its citizens are also part of this wave of change. Now world leaders in public administration and public policy innovation, such as those spearheaded in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, are leading a vital and wide-ranging transformation of government by attempting to create digital platforms that public citizenry and businesses can use to make themselves stronger and help improve the impact of government programs - the phenomena has been labeled Government 2.0. The strategy behind Government 2.0 is to apply the social networking and integration advantages of Web 2.0 to the practice of government. Governments with no platforms or policy to engage their citizenry and the global community on the Net will find themselves vulnerable for 21st Century politics. www.digitaldaya.com