Dear Malcolm, Please don’t be a “twit”

The Hon Member of Wentworth

Malcolm Turnbull.

Dear Malcolm,

Please don’t be a “twit”! I know it has been a long time since I wrote last, and probably the subject line of this might cause you to throw it away, but please humour me (like I am humouring your Twitter start).

I was excited (okay probably an exaggeration), or pleased, to see your new twitter account broadcast about this week.

It felt like finally we might be getting a politician to actually get engaged with their community in a ‘real’ way, rather than much publicized photo shoot opportunities and 30 second inane chatter sessions.

It seemed that maybe you actually understood that as an aspiring leader of the country and the leader of the opposition your constituents live throughout Australia, and additional ex-pats overseas who might want to come home more now than ever. Online we are a community filling every nook and cranny of the country, from all walks of life (except Mainstream banking it seems, if you follow @charispalmer), and with real life day to day issues to contend with.

Twitter is a place that many are finding addictive and compelling for their own reasons, but for many it is a way to cut through the noise and get pertinent information immediately, from which they can then form their own opinions and chart their own courses. For many it is purely a fast and efficient way to stay in touch. There are many reasons to Tweet, but of course there are some traps.

I appear to be not alone in my interest in you joining in with the community on Twitter. The tweets this week to you some of which are extremely humourous (if you see it from our side, but generally are very positive and looking for response:

(view all)

repascoe: @TurnbullMalcolm well done ,the twitter community is ideal for feedback , questions and answers from a wide ranging demographic
Falkayn: @TurnbullMalcolm welcome to Twitter sir … please keep your account something you update and NOT a staffer!
jedwhite: @TurnbullMalcolm Kudos to 1st Oz twitterpollie. Follow 20 or 30 interesting peeps and get into a conversation. Twitter makes no sense 1-way.
jjprojects: @turnbullmalcolm Hey there, how about having a Twitter question time? That would be an interesting thing for a pollie to do here.

Not much followed from you Malcolm, it quickly started to look like one of your staffers told you this would be a good idea for press releases and helping put others to sleep, the tweets started to change:

earleyedition: @turnbullmalcolm Take note.Howard’s social media strategists were an abysmal failure.Don’t underestimate the social capital @replies provide
maikins: @TurnbullMalcolm This is not what Twitter is about…you need to make personal comments and not “press releases”…I think you don’t get it
kcarruthers: @TurnbullMalcolm you need to follow some peeps back, it’s only polite
plasmaegg: @TurnbullMalcolm this is a community not an advertising forum.. perhaps follow number10downing street for a bit and see how its done
mspecht: @TurnbullMalcolm come on dude! be more human, say hi to peeps follow, interact, learn

So as you can see Malcolm it seems you might be trying the wrong approach here. If you want to ‘engage’ you need to ‘engage’. There is no secret formula and we the community will pay out on you a little if you get it a little wrong, but we will encourage and provide suggestions (see above).

You cannot pretend to be part of the community. You have taken some first steps in turning from Politician 1.0 to Politician 2.0 but with some effort could leapfrog this and head closer to Politician 3.0 (on the actually is engaged in a highly relevant way and provides real relevant information and solutions to the community).

Joining Twitter for someone like yourself with such a profile, is a little like going parachuting for the first time. You can not stick your foot out of the plane and say I had my first leap, you have to jump! Once you are out many things can happen (occasionally not good) and each experience is highly unique and personal. Once out, however, you are actually parachuting.

Using Twitter is similar to this, you cannot have a staffer publish your quotes or little 1 liners. You must jump in fully. Get it wrong, get a little twisted in the ropes, but 99% of the time you will land safely and be okay. Like a first time jumper you are jumping (well for now) with a supportive helper who will pull the chute when needed and guide you when to put your feet out etc. Use us, engage and guess what you are going learn something, and engage yourself in a whole new way!

Alas I am concerned you haven’t understood the true potential and use of social networking tools.

Please Malcolm, don’t throw a cardboard cut-out from the plane for a photo shoot, jump yourself and as @mspecht said:

“come on dude! be moire human, say hi to peeps follow, interact, learn”

Dear Malcolm, Please don’t be a twit – be a Twitterer!

Yours faithfully @ireckon

PS> Links to read:

http://www.twitteragency.com

Newbies guide to using Twitter

US based guide (source @mediahunter): Tony Hseih CEO Zappos Guide

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