I recently read this article by my AM, Jonathan Morgan, on the use of twitter by politicians. You can follow him here. Mr Morgan has 609 followers at the time of writing.
I've been following him for a while, as a constituent of his I thought it would be useful to keep up on local matters and a new way to keep in contact and converse with my AM. This hasn't been the case so far.
Mr Morgan makes it clear in his article that he wants to steer clear of personal matters. This is understandable. It's very easy for things to be misconstrued and small, glib comments can be career-damaging - just look at Councillor John Dixon. But Mr Morgan doesn't need to talk about personal matters to connect with his followers; showing a little bit of personality and sense of humour goes a long way.
What politicians need to realise is that Twitter is a social platform, it thrives on conversation. At times it feels like Mr Morgan is saying his bit, but putting his fingers in his ears while blowing raspberries when anyone else tries to respond. I often see Jonathan on the streets of Whitchurch; would he run away if I asked him a question? Of course not, so don't do it online. I understand the difficulties of responding to every tweet but acknowledging important local concerns is necessary and important.
I think it's great that politicians at all levels are using twitter and facebook, but more often than not they're being used as noticeboards. Social networking; the clue is in the name. By using these services, please accept that you're inviting your followers into a discourse. Twitter users are intelligent, inquisitive and active people who want to connect to their politicians! Connect with us! We're trying ever so hard.
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