KRudd tweaks Twitter transparency

James Riley
Monday, 13 July 2009 08:15

Your IT - Home IT

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.