Politicians and Twitter

Over the weekend I read several stories which made reference to 40% of tweets being 'babble'. I posted about this and other research last week. This figure seems to have been instantly accepted, however, if this figure is accurate (and the sample was fairly small) I caution that it does not automatically apply to all types of Twitter user.

When I first looked at MP's twitter accounts there were indeed a number of pointless posts, but research myself and Darren Lilleker conducted in June of tweeting MPs suggests that those who stick with the technology (many don't) appear to have a clear purpose for using it.

We identified 51 regularly updated, or sticky, Twitter accounts by MPs, some of which were fairly patchy. But, of those MPs who regularly use it they clearly see Twitter as a means of promoting themselves. For them Twitter is not about 'babble' but about explaining what they are doing for constituents, both in Westminister and in the constituency. Moreover, what some call babble can be very illuminating. Talk about an MPs family or personal interests provides a sense of hinterland, so that people can get to know their elected representives a little better.

I have conducted research on politcians' use of websites, e-newsletters, weblogs and social networking sites with some degree of scepticism. I have to say that in many ways I found their use of Twitter the most interesting. With social networking sites, such as Facebook, many MPs used them exactly the same as everyone else and not as part of their representative role. This is not the case with Twitter. If you look at MP's tweets, easily achieved by a visit to Tweetminster, you note that a small community is building up where a small group of champions respond to each others Tweets. This provides the rest of us with a small insight into a private world. Perhaps the most interesting facet of MPs use of Twitter is that the champions have been tweeting during parliamentary set-pieces and so offer a rare inside view. For example, a number of MPs tweeted during the election process of the Speaker. Indeed, I counted 107 tweets from Sandra Gidley.

Whilst good representative or campaigning use of new technologies by political actors is not always universal, I suspect that the champions will find it a useful means of explaining what they are doing to justify their salaries.