Comments on: Crikey: @KevinRuddPM stumbles into the Twitterverse http://stilgherrian.com/politics/crikey-kevinruddpm-stumbles-into-the-twitterverse/ All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris. Vive les poissons rouges sauvages! Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:24:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stephen Stockwell http://stilgherrian.com/politics/crikey-kevinruddpm-stumbles-into-the-twitterverse/#comment-14717 Stephen Stockwell Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:18:40 +0000 http://stilgherrian.com/?p=2721#comment-14717 <b>@Stilgherrian:</b> Re #3 -- Not to big-note myself, but over the last 2 to 3 months I've been finding myself to be more and more a first source of new information about this & that in casual face-to-face conversations with people. And Twitter has played a large role in that. Not as a source of news itself, but as a synapse between packets of news, ideas, and their authors and readers. (Notice how the single greatest communication revolution since the printing press <i>still</i> doesn't alter the human fundamentals of communication itself. Tools and efficiencies improve and business models expire. But the desire to connect, share information and learn is right where it's stayed since the year dot. Surprise, surprise. So much for the legacy media fogies demanding something be done to ensure a future for ... whatever it is that they're supposed to do.) @Stilgherrian: Re #3 — Not to big-note myself, but over the last 2 to 3 months I’ve been finding myself to be more and more a first source of new information about this & that in casual face-to-face conversations with people. And Twitter has played a large role in that. Not as a source of news itself, but as a synapse between packets of news, ideas, and their authors and readers.

(Notice how the single greatest communication revolution since the printing press still doesn’t alter the human fundamentals of communication itself. Tools and efficiencies improve and business models expire. But the desire to connect, share information and learn is right where it’s stayed since the year dot. Surprise, surprise. So much for the legacy media fogies demanding something be done to ensure a future for … whatever it is that they’re supposed to do.)

]]> By: Stilgherrian http://stilgherrian.com/politics/crikey-kevinruddpm-stumbles-into-the-twitterverse/#comment-14665 Stilgherrian Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:22:31 +0000 http://stilgherrian.com/?p=2721#comment-14665 "Managing perceptions" is undoubtedly the reason the PM's Twitter account was set up, since by all accounts that's still the core mentality of political advisors. I daresay they haven't given Twitter much resourcing because, as <a href="http://youngie.prblogs.org/2008/11/14/aussie-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-joins-twitter-the-reponse-no-clean-feed/">Paull Young points out</a>, Twitter "reaches so few of his citizens (and even actively locks out those on the wrong side of the digital divide)." Nevertheless, apart from perception-management there's four key reasons to Get Twitter Right Now which I haven't seen discussed as much: <ol> <li>Even though Twitter is relatively small with 3 million users or so, it's also growing fast and representative of an important emerging mode of communication. It's probably important to learn the lessons -- and yes, stumble a few times -- before it's even bigger and the mistakes are seen by even more people.</li> <li>If you're trying to promote your government's "Fresh Thinking" (remember that slogan? is it still valid?) then it's probably a good idea to be seen using some of the fresh tools.</li> <li>While the Twitter <del datetime="2008-11-18T23:35:08+00:00">audience</del> <ins datetime="2008-11-18T23:35:08+00:00">community</ins> is relatively small, it's also <em>very</em> well-connected. Twitter users aren't smarter or more relevant than anyone else, but they <em>are</em> connected to a fast-working network. That means others are increasingly turning to them for comment and opinion. The "mainstream media" is starting to report "what Twitter thinks".</li> <li>Just as important as the message going out is the message coming back. Twitter provides a mechanism for seeing what people think that's fast and unfiltered. Like other politicians, the PM relies almost exclusively on a worldview that's filtered by his entourage. Twitter can help avoid the pitfalls there.</li> </ol> I'm still curious about the advice the PM's getting about Twitter. Who is it? “Managing perceptions” is undoubtedly the reason the PM’s Twitter account was set up, since by all accounts that’s still the core mentality of political advisors. I daresay they haven’t given Twitter much resourcing because, as Paull Young points out, Twitter “reaches so few of his citizens (and even actively locks out those on the wrong side of the digital divide).”

Nevertheless, apart from perception-management there’s four key reasons to Get Twitter Right Now which I haven’t seen discussed as much:

  1. Even though Twitter is relatively small with 3 million users or so, it’s also growing fast and representative of an important emerging mode of communication. It’s probably important to learn the lessons — and yes, stumble a few times — before it’s even bigger and the mistakes are seen by even more people.
  2. If you’re trying to promote your government’s “Fresh Thinking” (remember that slogan? is it still valid?) then it’s probably a good idea to be seen using some of the fresh tools.
  3. While the Twitter audience community is relatively small, it’s also very well-connected. Twitter users aren’t smarter or more relevant than anyone else, but they are connected to a fast-working network. That means others are increasingly turning to them for comment and opinion. The “mainstream media” is starting to report “what Twitter thinks”.
  4. Just as important as the message going out is the message coming back. Twitter provides a mechanism for seeing what people think that’s fast and unfiltered. Like other politicians, the PM relies almost exclusively on a worldview that’s filtered by his entourage. Twitter can help avoid the pitfalls there.

I’m still curious about the advice the PM’s getting about Twitter. Who is it?

]]> By: Stephen Stockwell http://stilgherrian.com/politics/crikey-kevinruddpm-stumbles-into-the-twitterverse/#comment-14645 Stephen Stockwell Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:31:56 +0000 http://stilgherrian.com/?p=2721#comment-14645 Nah, I think he/they/it is or are far less interested in being "cool" than seeing how this "new tool" can be used to manage perceptions - like the telly, but newer. Classic, centralised top-down management mentality. The name "Conroy" springs to mind. Maybe @KevinRuddPM has deduced that if the half-arsedness you see on a few MySpace and Facebook profiles is par for the course for today's 'yoof', then presumably 'yoof' will respect the same in kind. Then again, maybe @KevinRuddPM just doesn't care. Maybe it really is just belated, me-too tokenism for a medium @TurnbullMalcolm managed to utilise <i>on his own</i> some time ago. So if this "education revolution" ever sweeps the nation as promised, please let me know. Via Twitter. Nah, I think he/they/it is or are far less interested in being “cool” than seeing how this “new tool” can be used to manage perceptions – like the telly, but newer. Classic, centralised top-down management mentality. The name “Conroy” springs to mind.

Maybe @KevinRuddPM has deduced that if the half-arsedness you see on a few MySpace and Facebook profiles is par for the course for today’s ‘yoof’, then presumably ‘yoof’ will respect the same in kind. Then again, maybe @KevinRuddPM just doesn’t care. Maybe it really is just belated, me-too tokenism for a medium @TurnbullMalcolm managed to utilise on his own some time ago.

So if this “education revolution” ever sweeps the nation as promised, please let me know.
Via Twitter.

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