James Riley
Monday, 13 July 2009 07:15
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Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has quietly tweaked his Web 2.0 communications processes, attaching a moniker to each social media update on services like Twitter and Facebook to help followers recognise whether the message is directly from the PM, or from one of his team.
Mr Rudd has also raised the profile of social media
channels to voters, creating a new role of eCommunications Director
within the Prime Minister’s Press Office.
Mr Rudd now ends each update with the sign-off “KRudd,” while updates
posted by staff are signed “Team.” It is a gentle change, but
important, and was put in place to meet the evolving expectations among
Twitter users for transparency.
The changes reflect just how keen the Prime Minister’s office is to get
its retail communications strategies right ahead of the next Federal
election, expected in 2010.
A spokeswoman for Mr Rudd told iTWire the changes had been made several
months ago, although some users say it is a much more recent adjustment.
The PM’s eCommunications Director monitors Twitter, Facebook and other
social networking sites to keep a tab on public opinion, and is responsible for the continued development of the Prime Minister’s various web sites to ensure
they are on message and integrated into the broader communications
strategy.
While Mr Rudd’s 2007 victory was hailed as the first “YouTube
election,” the Australian Centre for Public Communications (ACPC) at
the University of Technology in Sydney largely discounted the influence
of 2.0-style New Media in influencing the election in its report on
E-Electioneering.
But the report clearly noted the growing influence of 2.0 media.
And 2010 will see more sophisticated online and interactive campaigns
from all the major political parties.
Despite the inherent two-way, interactive capability of 2.0-style
media, examples in the 2007 election tended to be used for one-way
political communications, tightly controlled by either an
organisational or political gatekeeper.
Social media like Twitter is a double-edged sword for politicians. It
is a powerfully positive communications medium. But by turbo-charging
old-fashioned ‘word-of -mouth,’ it can go spectacularly wrong when
poorly handled.