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Running a Town Over Twitter

Posted by Soulskill on from the of-the-hashtags,-by-the-hashtags,-and-for-the-hashtags dept.

dkatana writes: You may call Jun an ancient town — it was founded by Romans 2,200 years ago. But Jun's mayor is known worldwide for using the latest technology to run the city. Back in 1999, when he was deputy mayor, the town declared internet a basic universal right for its citizens. And now political parties run "virtual" campaigns without printing posters. But the most impressive accomplishment of Jun's mayor is running the entire town administration and public services using Twitter. He has more followers (350 k) than the mayor of NY. A third of the 3,800 residents have Twitter accounts, and they use the platform to interact with the city administration at all levels.

4 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So corporatism merging with government. by Crashmarik · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hold it when corporations merge with government it's fascism
    When government merges with corporations it's socialism

    Good to have that cleared up, I have never been clear on the difference.

  2. Helping a full third of all citizens? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >> running the entire town administration and public services using Twitter...a third of the 3,800 residents have Twitter accounts

    So...the government is accessible to a full third of all citizens? (And probably not the elderly who need the most services.) What's the win, exactly?

    1. Re:Helping a full third of all citizens? by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where did it say that phones and email and snail mail are no longer available? If anything having 1/3rd of your communication going via twitter you will reduce the load on the other areas and hence reduce waiting time.

  3. Most politicians already summarize complex issues by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 3, Insightful

    in 140 characters or less.