by Jennifer Savage – Government 2.0 Strategist

Argggggh!  I am officially annoyed by Government’s use of Twitter these days.  Has no one heard the adage “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should’? 

To be fair, departmental Twitter accounts such as PHAC (@PHAC_GC), DFAIT (@eyesabroad), NRCan (@NR_RNbulletin), etc, do a good job of tweeting out relevant information. The problem seems to lie at the individual level.  Why do members of the public sector believe that there is an audience for inane commentary (on Twitter or elsewhere)?  Does the Canadian public really care if there is traffic on the 417 today?  Do they care that so-and-so had sushi with so-and-so?  Do they really need a play-by-play account of who said what at a conference (unless it has wide- reaching implications for Canadians)?  No.  What seems to have been forgotten in all the Web 2.0 enthusiasm is that Twitter is simply another communication channel, and like any communication channel, thought has to be given to what is communicated, based on whom you are communicating with.   The following is a consolidated overview of WebDrive’s Government Roadmap to Twitter.

• Who are you talking to (or hoping to talk to) via Twitter? – And please don’t answer this with “all Canadians”.  No outreach strategy is intelligently devised without sub-categorization.

• What information are they counting on you for? – If a department can’t answer this question with significant detail, they are doomed to fail.

• Have you reached out to this audience effectively?  – Departments and agencies should audit their Twitter audience base regularly to ensure they are reaching their intended audience. Nothing is more embarrassing to a department than a Twitter audience-base made up primarily of Americans (or any other group other than Canadian citizens).

• How frequently does your audience expect to hear from you? – Some departments need to communicate several times a day, some only once a week or month. Your mandate and the audience needs will drive frequency, but ensure that you are communicating regularly.

• How can you contribute beyond your Departmental account? – Many Twitter feeds are subject specific (tax reform, human rights, financial literacy, etc.). Departmental official must remember that Web 2.0 is about being part of a “conversation”.  As such, they should search out other Twitter feeds that they can contribute to.