Have @ it, Parliament!

Bill Flanigen | July 28, 2009

The British government, via a report with about 25,000 characters, is encouraging civil servants to tweet, according to the Associated Press. Laughably, the report "warns against using Twitter simply to convey campaign messages." That'll sure stop 'em. It appears that some of the civil servants are too technologically challenged to heed the advice, anyway:

Tom Watson, a Labour party lawmaker who is one of the House of Commons' most active bloggers, said Twitter could be a valuable tool for Britain's Labour government.

But he said the guidelines showed how levels of familiarity with the Internet varied widely in the government's Whitehall offices.

"There are some very bright, digitally enabled civil servants who unfortunately have to write these documents for their bosses, the mandarins, who still get their secretaries to print off their e-mails so they can read them," Watson told the BBC. 

Here's to a tweeting Britain: may it enjoy one, two, many Hoekstras.

Comments

|7.28.09 @ 3:36PM|#

Twitter is barely keeping up with volume as it is. If tons of government employees start using it...

hmm|7.28.09 @ 3:57PM|#

I'm all for government individuals getting what might be unedited information out. It might actually serve as a form of transparency that hasn't ever been around.

kilroy|7.28.09 @ 3:58PM|#

Excellent opportunity to bump that Follow Reason on the Twitter post again. It's almost old enough to drink.

|7.28.09 @ 4:01PM|#

I just got a Tweet from Sir Humphrey Appleby:

U mite think so. I hwvr cd nt psbly commnt.

Kevin

|7.28.09 @ 4:48PM|#

I'm all for government individuals getting what might be unedited information out.

Although there is something to that, I question the amount of quality information that can be dispensed via Twitter.

Plus, don't these people have jobs they are supposed to be doing? Jobs that don't involve Twittering?

MonkeeHeadinSouth|7.28.09 @ 5:07PM|#

hahahahahahahhaha

Typical MP tweet

"I just snorted some dope charleston off the tits of a Peruvian tart

fuck you, you tax paying chav wankers

you paid for it

(smiley face)"

hmm|7.28.09 @ 5:15PM|#

Although there is something to that, I question the amount of quality information that can be dispensed via Twitter.

I think the quality would come from not thinking before typing. A lot of unedited things lend themselves more towards the true intent of the person. Sometimes people just fuck up though. One of those double sword thingys.

Plus, don't these people have jobs they are supposed to be doing? Jobs that don't involve Twittering?

If they are anywhere near our situation the less they do of their "jobs" the better off we all are.

Max|7.28.09 @ 7:23PM|#

Tom Watson has certainly benefited from his tweeting... after he mentioned the work some of my friends were doing over at 5 Second Films ("Wasting your time, but not very much!"), they decided to make two --ahem-- "campaign ads" for him, and he proved he could take a joke:

This

http://5secondfilms.com/v3beta/watch/keeping_you_safe

then this:

http://5secondfilms.com/v3beta/watch/keeping_you_warm