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Twitter Has a Handbook for Politicians

43 points by jeo1234 11y ago

song 11y ago
Surprisingly well targeted based on the extracts here... It completely makes sense for Twitter to do that...
Ensorceled 11y ago
I'm trying to understand the negativity of the article. Isn't trying to get our baby boomer aged politicians onto new technology and communications channels a good thing? Or are we just going to write off anybody anybody who isn't already "with it"?
- aklemm 11y ago
  That was a strange and completely unnecessary angle for the author to take. I don't get it.
  - mfoy_ 11y ago
    Agreed, the tone of the article was "Who the hell doesn't know what Twitter is? Haha, what losers!" which is a really alienating and negative attitude to take towards the uninitiated.
- bargl 11y ago
  I was actually thinking that this manual would be great for people like my dad! He isn't a politician but it would help him figure out how to use it and having a manual he could use would make him much more comfortable getting started on a new product. He currently uses Facebook and I get the feeling a Facebook manual would be helpful for him, but I wonder how long that manual would be and if there would be any overlap with this one.
  - Ensorceled 11y ago
    That was exactly my reaction (just for my Mom :-). While reading the article I kept getting the feeling the author was mocking my mother ...
- ZachPruckowski 11y ago
  I know, right? I work with a lot of politicians and they run the gamut from "tech savvy 30-year-old" to "grandpa who still uses AOL". Any product which wants to appeal to the entire population needs to be able to explain itself to that range of people. If you want to move beyond the bleeding-edge techie crowd and the Millenials you've got to be able to sell yourself to the people who don't grow up with computers.
- aggieben 11y ago
  I completely agree: the pictures in the article make the manual look brilliant: simple enough for anyone to understand, but detailed enough to get the most out of the tool. Every social media platform should have this manual.
secfirstmd 11y ago
Smart way to subtly lobby also.
pakled_engineer 11y ago
They all have media/PR staff to fill Twitter with cheap talking points, empty optimism "Let's make x great again! Retweet" or for begging for donations. There's no interaction with voters here whatsoever it's a one way channel.
- Spivak 11y ago
  I think this handbook is Twitter's attempt to change that. My guess is that most politicians don't really understand social media in general and thus delegate it to their twenty-something polisci intern whose only connection to the candidate is an approved list of messages. It's no surprise they're terrible.
  - dailyrorschach 11y ago
    I work in DC - and our clients have a lot of public affairs work in the portfolio. Many members of Congress, especially on the House side are more active on Twitter than you'd realize. We've found anecdotally that especially during periods of recess or home district work periods, voter contact can be an effective way to target elected on Twitter and we've seen responses. Tends to skew younger.
- grayclhn 11y ago
  Not true for everyone. Search for "Chuck Grassley twitter"
jhull 11y ago
"Twitter Has A 136-Page Handbook For Politicians." Seems like a lost branding opportunity that they didn't add 4 more pages.
- icpmacdo 11y ago
  Startup L. Jackson agrees with you https://twitter.com/StartupLJackson/status/649381408327073793 https://twitter.com/StartupLJackson/status/64938140832707379...
  - foota 11y ago
    Did we just identify SLJ again? :)
wongarsu 11y ago
Direct link to the handbook: https://g.twimg.com/elections/files/2014/09/16/TwitterGovElectionsHandbook.pdf https://g.twimg.com/elections/files/2014/09/16/TwitterGovEle...
xedarius 11y ago
Page 1 - "Even though you may be tempted, don't put naked pictures of yourself on the Internet/Twitter, as the net result of that is there will be naked pictures of you on the Internet/Twitter FOREVER!" Page 2 - "Young and attractive girls are not sending you suggestive pictures of themselves because they like you, these are always reporter honey traps, ALWAYS" As a politician this is all you need to know about twitter.
midgetjones 11y ago
Is there a page explaining that the tweet box isn't a search box? cf: https://twitter.com/edballs/status/63623585020915713 https://twitter.com/edballs/status/63623585020915713
protomyth 11y ago
Be nice to politicians and they will be nice to you. Sounds like a good idea for a social media company. Twitter already does additional services for certain segments so this would be consistent.

43 points by jeo1234 11y ago

song 11y ago

Surprisingly well targeted based on the extracts here... It completely makes sense for Twitter to do that...

I'm trying to understand the negativity of the article. Isn't trying to get our baby boomer aged politicians onto new technology and communications channels a good thing? Or are we just going to write off anybody anybody who isn't already "with it"?

aklemm 11y ago
That was a strange and completely unnecessary angle for the author to take. I don't get it.
- mfoy_ 11y ago
  Agreed, the tone of the article was "Who the hell doesn't know what Twitter is? Haha, what losers!" which is a really alienating and negative attitude to take towards the uninitiated.
bargl 11y ago
I was actually thinking that this manual would be great for people like my dad! He isn't a politician but it would help him figure out how to use it and having a manual he could use would make him much more comfortable getting started on a new product. He currently uses Facebook and I get the feeling a Facebook manual would be helpful for him, but I wonder how long that manual would be and if there would be any overlap with this one.
- Ensorceled 11y ago
  That was exactly my reaction (just for my Mom :-). While reading the article I kept getting the feeling the author was mocking my mother ...
ZachPruckowski 11y ago
I know, right? I work with a lot of politicians and they run the gamut from "tech savvy 30-year-old" to "grandpa who still uses AOL". Any product which wants to appeal to the entire population needs to be able to explain itself to that range of people. If you want to move beyond the bleeding-edge techie crowd and the Millenials you've got to be able to sell yourself to the people who don't grow up with computers.
aggieben 11y ago
I completely agree: the pictures in the article make the manual look brilliant: simple enough for anyone to understand, but detailed enough to get the most out of the tool. Every social media platform should have this manual.

secfirstmd 11y ago

Smart way to subtly lobby also.

pakled_engineer 11y ago

They all have media/PR staff to fill Twitter with cheap talking points, empty optimism "Let's make x great again! Retweet" or for begging for donations. There's no interaction with voters here whatsoever it's a one way channel.

Spivak 11y ago
I think this handbook is Twitter's attempt to change that. My guess is that most politicians don't really understand social media in general and thus delegate it to their twenty-something polisci intern whose only connection to the candidate is an approved list of messages. It's no surprise they're terrible.
- dailyrorschach 11y ago
  I work in DC - and our clients have a lot of public affairs work in the portfolio. Many members of Congress, especially on the House side are more active on Twitter than you'd realize. We've found anecdotally that especially during periods of recess or home district work periods, voter contact can be an effective way to target elected on Twitter and we've seen responses. Tends to skew younger.
grayclhn 11y ago
Not true for everyone. Search for "Chuck Grassley twitter"

jhull 11y ago

"Twitter Has A 136-Page Handbook For Politicians." Seems like a lost branding opportunity that they didn't add 4 more pages.

icpmacdo 11y ago
Startup L. Jackson agrees with you https://twitter.com/StartupLJackson/status/649381408327073793 https://twitter.com/StartupLJackson/status/64938140832707379...
- foota 11y ago
  Did we just identify SLJ again? :)

wongarsu 11y ago

Direct link to the handbook: https://g.twimg.com/elections/files/2014/09/16/TwitterGovElectionsHandbook.pdf https://g.twimg.com/elections/files/2014/09/16/TwitterGovEle...

xedarius 11y ago

Page 1 - "Even though you may be tempted, don't put naked pictures of yourself on the Internet/Twitter, as the net result of that is there will be naked pictures of you on the Internet/Twitter FOREVER!" Page 2 - "Young and attractive girls are not sending you suggestive pictures of themselves because they like you, these are always reporter honey traps, ALWAYS" As a politician this is all you need to know about twitter.

midgetjones 11y ago

Is there a page explaining that the tweet box isn't a search box? cf: https://twitter.com/edballs/status/63623585020915713 https://twitter.com/edballs/status/63623585020915713

protomyth 11y ago

Be nice to politicians and they will be nice to you. Sounds like a good idea for a social media company. Twitter already does additional services for certain segments so this would be consistent.