This Reuters article does a fine job showing how important social media has become in governmental outreach ... but also discusses the risks that we have discussed in class. The article is long but have a look if you have time! The @BarackObama Twitter account is not actually run by Obama, but by a pro-Obama group called Organizing for Action, which poses many more (additional) risks than if it were run by the White House employees.
Here are some key quotes I would like to share:
"White House officials quickly began firing off a barrage of tweets on Twitter, which has become one of the administration's most potent and relied-upon weapons in trying to shape public opinion and media reports."
"There are risks in the White House's Twitter strategy, said Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and author of "What Jefferson read, Ike watched, and Obama tweeted," a study of popular culture in the White House. While it is important for presidents to use the tools of the moment to reach out to Americans, it's also important to protect the stature of the office, Troy said."
... "Security is also a risk, LaMotte said. Last week, the Syrian Electronic Army briefly hacked into a link-shortening service used in tweets from Organizing For America, the advocacy group that runs @barackobama."
So do we think that the White House has its Twitter presence under control or is it "only a matter of time before someone goes too far" ?
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