Government departments told to Twitter

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 28 Jul 2009 at 08:57

A new document has been issued laying out a Twitter strategy for Government departments.

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The 20-page document, written by the head of corporate digital channels at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), encourages Government departments to use the micro-blogging site.

"The platform is experiencing a phenomenal adoption curve in the UK and being increasing used by Government departments, Members of Parliament, a number of our stakeholders as well as millions of businesses, non-government organisations and individuals," Neil Williams writes in the document, published on the Cabinet Office blog.

"It is free to use with relatively low impact on resources and has the potential to deliver many benefits in support of our communications objectives," he adds.

These benefits include "building relationships with relevant audiences", providing an "informal human voice" for Government departments, and monitoring mentions of "ourbrand [sic], our Ministers and flagship policy initiatives".

Williams also highlights several risks, including news leaks, the risk of Twitter accounts being hacked, and "criticism of jumping on the bandwagon".

Among the exclusive content that Williams suggests civil servants provide are updates on a Ministers whereabouts, "thoughts and reflections of Ministers" and even "crisis communications" during a national emergency.

The report suggests that Twittering should take no longer than an hour a day, although it might take a day every three months to review the department's Twitter strategy.