Skip to main content

The Speaker of House and online communication strategies


The US mid-term elections were held about the same time that the Greek Mayoral elections, and unfortunately I was preoccupied in keeping up with the local campaigns. But, I did manage to follow some of the news and catch up on US politics online.

John Boehner was elected Speaker-designate by House Republicans and when the full House votes in January, Boehner will become the 61st Speaker of the House.

When you visit the official speaker.gov website it's all about Nancy Pelosi And if you want to connect with the Speaker of the House you are directed to Nancy Pelosi branded social media.

Twitter Twitter»
http://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi
Facebook Facebook»
http://www.facebook.com/SpeakerNancyPelosi
YouTube YouTube»
http://www.youtube.com/SpeakerPelosi
Flickr Flickr»
http://www.flickr.com/SpeakerPelosi

I would have expected for the Speaker of the House, whoever that might be, to have an independent presence on social media platforms, and not be centred around people that occupy the position.

The consequence of having multiple accounts in social media, depending on the campaign or position, is that you will disenfranchise people that want to follow the Speaker of the House, and not necessary the politician that is the Speaker.

Nancy Pelosi has a twitter username @SpeakerPelosi, this will be obsolete when she steps down, likewise for facebook (Speaker Nancy Pelosi) flickr (Speaker Pelosi's photostream) and YouTube (youtube.com/SpeakerPelosi).

It would have been much more simple if the speaker.gov website linked to the personal social media sites of each speaker of the House or, in my opinion, for the Speaker of the House to create an independent social media presence that is geared in connecting with people that want to engage with the Speaker regardless of who is, or who will be in office.

I hope the next Speaker will follow a much more structured approach in connecting with people online.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Kerry and Digital Diplomacy

John Kerry delivered his first remarks as the new U.S. Secretary of State. In his first speech at the State Department, he noted :  "...We get to talk about empowering people through our ideals, and through those ideals hopefully they can change their lives..." This is really important to underline;  given that public diplomacy now has a much more crucial role to play. In utilising new and social media, people now have the opportunity to engage through digital diplomacy.  As Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine has said :  "...we have to introduce more and more virtual exchanges and the use of social media particularly to reach young people where they are..." Secretary Kerry Tours the Ops Center Also, I came across a tweet from the State Department which informed that #SecKerry will be tweeting from the  +U.S. Department of State  twitter account . #SecKerry will start tweeting fr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Social Media for Communication & Conflict Resolution

I came across an OSCE update on facebook asking: "Can social media help us prepare for peace?" In the new Report " Preparing for peace Communications in conflict resolution " the OSCE explains the role of Social Media in conflict resolution, detailing challenges and opportunities. OSCE/Curtis Budden Definitely recommending reading this OSCE publication. It is great that an Organization such as the OSCE is keeping active in Social Media, and at the same time "Mapping the blogosphere, reporting on negotiations, using social media to overcome divides" . Credit to the OSCE PPIS, Ireland’s 2012 OSCE Chairmanship, the US Mission to the OSCE and the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the OSCE.  Having worked for the OSCE in 2009 , I launched the official OSCE presence on facebook and twitter , along with Issuu . It was an excellent start, and I am happy to see that the team in PPIS are keeping up with the OSCE presence in Social Media and are launc...
Post a Comment
Read more

#debate politics and new media communications

I must say that I enjoyed watching the first debate between the nominees for President of the United States. It was quite clear from the start that Romney was in charge, and President Obama seemed settled in reciting talking points. Some of my tweets included:  To start, disappointed with @ barackobama - @ mittromney is doing a good job. — Vas Gkinopoulos (@VasGk) October 4, 2012 hmm @ mittromney is definitely in control of the #debate — Vas Gkinopoulos (@VasGk) October 4, 2012 I was quite surprised to read some articles on social media and politics, that suggested TV debates were obsolete, or that it was an "old media" approach to political campaigning. Such smug approaches are missing the point. The statistics show 10.3 million Tweets in 90 minutes. An amazing number that not only is a first in presidential debates, it makes the #debates more dynamic than ever! So I look forward to the next 3 debates for 2012.  Internet engagement makes the #debates ever more impor...
Post a Comment
Read more