Digital social networking penetrates council meeting

The staccato messaging firepower of the latest digital social networking on cell phones has, as far is known, not yet tested the dignity of the legislative assemblies of South African governing bodies – but it may not be too far into the future.

For a minute at a recent council meeting in Charlotte, United States, councilman Warren Cooksey appeared to be transmitting code.

“The hashtags are clt dash cc and goat debate zero nine,” he said to the television cameras, before leaning back in his chair, smiling.

“What?” asked Councilman Michael Barnes.

“It went over our heads, Mr Cooksey,” said Mayor Pat McCrory.

“Oh, the Twitterers know,” Cooksey said.

And, thus, what had been an underground phenomenon officially burst onto the wonky scene of Charlotte city government.

Cooksey is one of four council members who use Twitter – a microblogging service started in 2006 that has grown to an estimated four million users – to send out short blasts of information to people who have signed up to ‘follow’ them electronically.

The messages, or “tweets”, are limited to 140 characters.

As anyone who has sat through a City Council meeting knows, it is hard for Charlotte’s leaders to reduce their thoughts to a couple quick sentences – but some are trying.

Typically, the council members use their Blackberry’s or other PDAs to post notes about their schedules, thoughts on an issue or even real-time comments from the dais during a council meeting.

“I approve of almost anything that increases interest in local govt.,” Cooksey (@wcooksey on Twitter) tweeted during Monday’s meeting, as the council debated whether to allow pygmy goats in urban areas. That message went out to the 260 or so people who have signed up to receive his updates.

A number of gadflies and city government onlookers have also chimed in on the City Council’s “twonversation”.

Their tweeting picked up remarkably during the pygmy goat debate.

“You know, some cities use goats as an eco-friendly way to maintain public spaces.

Also, my dog is bigger than a pygmy goat,” one person remarked on Twitter.

“CLT will never be a cool, world-class city like Seattle, Portland or St Paul until we allow pygmy goats!” tweeted another.

“Spending way too much time deciding if we should allow pygmy goats in residential areas,” councilman John Lassiter grumbled from his Twitter-equipped PDA.

As a social media format, Twitter is something pundits cannot seem to agree on. It does not make money, and studies show that people tend to have a fleeting interest in it.

But outside its entertainment value, government agencies and politicians across the country are experimenting with ways in which Twitter can help disseminate information.

During the flooding in Fargo, North Dakota, for example, Twitter helped organise people to build dykes, according to the Associated Press.

In Topeka, Kansas, the city staff has started tweeting live bits of information during council meetings.

In Charlotte, the fire department uses Twitter to report fires and warn people about traffic accidents.

It would seem a useful tool for politicians hoping to keep their actions in the public’s mind.

In an election year, Charlotte’s City Council members tweet about their attendance at ribbon-cuttings, volunteer work or lobbying on behalf of the city.

Sometimes council members tweet about their breaks from work, too.

“Get this for a great afternoon,” councilman Andy Dulin tweeted one week. “My four o’clock appointment gets cancelled and my nine-year-old invites me to Night at the Museum. Awesome!”

As in life, some council members have more followers than others. Anthony Foxx (@anthonyfoxx), who is running for mayor, has 698, while Cooksey – who has offered Twitter trainings to his colleagues – has picked up 268; while Dulin (@adulin) has 146.

Lassiter, also a mayoral candidate, has started a couple of Twitter accounts. He has 66 followers on @lassiterjohn, the account he uses most.

Lassiter said he is still getting used to the idea of Twitter, but the idea of tweeting during meetings bothers him. “I’m supposed to be paying attention,” he said.

While some city leaders are curious about the phenomenon, others eschew it. “I’m sorry. I’m an anti-Twitter guy,” McCrory said, after Cooksey’s plug for the service at Monday’s council meeting.

The mayor said he has enough to do answering e-mails and phone calls.

Council members Warren Turner and Patsy Kinsey agreed.

“It’s too time-consuming,” Turner said. “And, secondly, I don’t think it’s the way you communicate.”

Edwin Peacock, who does not have an account, said he is not thrilled by the real-time updates about people’s daily lives. “I have never broken radio silence with, ‘I’m thinking about going to sleep’,” he said.

But after someone else tweeted one of his remarks during the pygmy goat debate, he said he’s considering taking one of Cooksey’s Twitter training sessions.

“Now that I know people are saying things about me, I’m interested,” Peacock said.

Source: Julia Oliver in “The Charlotte Observer”; 12 June 2009