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ePaper created 2012-12-31, 17:51:27 | version 1.24.0
Research Note: World Leader Rankings on Twitter December 2012 6 National Offices In addition to a head of state using Twitter, some countries also had their national office represented with a Twitter account such as the White House, Mexico’s federal government, “@KremlinRussia,” and the United Kingdom’s @number10gov, among many. Also of note, out of the 123 tweeting “heads of state,” 32 of these were national offices. However, for some countries, their national office Twitter account was the main or even sole Twitter voice for that government, including the accounts in the top half such as El Salvador, Uruguay, and Croatia that recently came on the scene. Even government “portals” continued to establish Twitter accounts, such as the E-portals of Malta, Bahrain, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Regional Concentrations Europe Several European leaders had finally begun tweeting actively such as France, Switzerland, Spain, Netherlands, and Finland, with most entering in the top 30. All of these countries have high polity scores and low fragility. On the other hand, Denmark and Ireland let their accounts go inactive in 2012. One world leader who experienced a change of heart toward social media was the UK prime minister who, in October 2012, finally adopted a Twitter handle in his own name @David_Cameron. The account clocked up more than 50,000 followers within hours of his debut. For several years, Cameron had been reluctant to follow in the footsteps of many other high profile politicians in joining Twitter, making disparaging remarks about the platform in 2009. In his first tweet via @david_cameron, the prime minister wrote: “I’m starting Conference with this new Twitter feed about my role as Conservative Leader. I promise there won't be 'too many tweets.’” When questioned by the media as to why he was at long last utilizing Twitter, he said, “In this modern world you have got to use every means to try and communicate your message and explain to people why you are doing it. You’ve got to get with the programme, I suppose.” The Middle East In the wake of the Arab Spring, 2012 saw the addition of Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi at number 14. In September, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi logged what he said was his first post on Twitter, which he dedicated to martyrs of the Egyptian uprising in 2011 and to the people of Syria. In his first tweet, Morsi wrote: “Want to dedicate 1st tweet to martyrs of #Jan25 revolution and brave #Syrians... Muhammed #Morsi.” Interestingly, Morsi was watched closely from another online tool, analyzing how close he is working on internal Egyptian affairs.