Industry Minister Tony Clement was recently criticized for announcing his government’s decision to ask the CRTC to reverse its decision on usage-based billing.
Critics immediately pounced on Clement not for the decision itself, but for the means he chose to announce it – Twitter.
The social networking giant has been in the news a lot over the last couple of months - the tsunami, social unrest in the Middle East, and even Charlie Sheen’s bizarre behaviour have demonstrated just how integral Twitter has become in providing up-to-the minute news and opinion.
Rather than dump on Clement for using Twitter, people should applaud him. Social networking is an effective and instantaneous way for politicians to communicate not only government policy but engage with the public as well.
Clement’s Twitter profile boasts almost 13,000 followers, over 2,000 of whom are journalists he says. Through Twitter he can communicate with members of the media, his constituents, and anyone else on just about any issue, from the CRTC decision to his favourite pun of the day.
I started following Clement soon after the controversy over his CRTC tweet and he began following me a day later. I’m not saying we’ll be squash partners anytime soon, but it’s nice to know that I have a fast and easy way to communicate with an elected representative.
Opposition MP’s are no doubt looking to score political points over Clement’s tweet. They would rather see policy announcements handled the old-fashioned way, through press releases or a news conference. Nothing against those means, but in this century, Twitter is at the forefront of communication. And with the service being installed on House of Commons BlackBerry’s, politicians have an obligation to use the service to announce messages to the public.
Critics do themselves no favours poo-pooing the effectiveness of social media as a tool in releasing information. If anything they show just how behind the curve they are on the issue.
No one is saying the older forms of communication shouldn’t be used. People still use snail mail after all. But politicians and business leaders should be taking advantage of Twitter and Facebook and certainly not harp on those that do.
Mr. Clement has shown that he’s gotten the message.
