World Leaders on Twitter - Top10 Rankings

Research Note: World Leader Rankings on Twitter August 2011 7 In addition to a head of state using Twitter, some countries also have their national office represented with a Twitter account such as the White House, Mexico‟s federal government, “@KremlinRussia”, and Malaysia‟s @mygovernment. Out of 70 tweeting “heads of state,” 18 of these are national offices. However, most countries with national offices are the main or even sole Twitter voice for that government, including new accounts such as the presidency of the Dominican Republic, prime ministry of the Netherlands, and “government” accounts for Germany, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Montenegro, and Vanuatu that have all recently come on the scene. Even government portals have established Twitter accounts, such as the portal of Hungary, Uzbekistan, and E-portal of Oman. Some of these are PR broadcasts and others actually contain communications by the associated head of state. The Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago has followed 10 Downing Street creating a @15StClairAve account which is a combination of broadcasts and actual quotes from the prime minister. The past year also showed an increase of interactions between heads of state. The German government and the French presidency recently tweeted about a video conference between leaders Merkel, Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron. The French president even posted a photo of the event on Twitpic to document the scene. Conclusion It is clear from the tumultuous uprisings in 2011 that political stability of nations along with political longevity of its leaders are inextricably tied to engagement of civil society. If civil society feels they have no means of participating in their own governance and feel their leaders unreceptive to hearing their grievances, they now have new means through social media and mobile communication platforms to organize very effective civil dissent. This fact did not go unnoticed by the World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, who in April announced a principal new strategy to be carried forward by the Bank. Influenced by the political shifts engulfing the Middle East and North Africa, the president concluded that greater citizen participation and better governance are critical to economic development and as such signaled a major policy shift in the Bank. Zoellick's latest initiative is to introduce "new capabilities and facilities" to help strengthen the ability of governments and civil society to work together "collaboratively" in improving the effectiveness of government services and economic opportunities for its citizens. The basic message of Zoellick's new policy is that "you can't have successful economic development without good governance and participation of citizens." The Digital Policy Council reiterates its advisory view that governments that lack platforms or policy to engage their citizenry and the global community on the Net will find themselves vulnerable when engaging in 21st century politics.