We learned this week how advocacy campaigns use social networking tools to engage policymakers and influence change. So what does it mean when a policymaker uses the networking tool, but plays by his own rules?
Texas Governor Rick Perry (or as Texans fondly refer to him, Governor Good Hair) recently blocked a group of seemingly pesky Texas journalists from accessing his Twitter account. To the Twitterverse, this was an amateur move. The blocked journalists quickly caught on when their colleagues (as well as Perry’s 38,000 followers) still had access to the governor’s tweets. Not to mention, Perry’s tweets are public domain.
Twitter is a tool that thrives on the openness of information sharing and interaction. Perry’s resistance to the fundamental elements of Twitter is obviously not ideal for the concerned citizens, members of the press, advocacy organizations and others who rely on Twitter to reach the governor. Perry’s defiance does, however, expose the power of the tool. Maybe Perry had something to hide, at least from selected members of the Texas media. Instead of leaving the journalists in the dark as he had hoped, Perry’s plan backfired. @GovernorPerry was flooded with complaints about his lack of transparency and failed attempt at media censorship. The same social networking tool that Perry used to communicate with his base turned into a platform for anti-Perry rhetoric. Perry might have undermined his own online agenda, but his actions reinforced the powerful influence that social networking tools can have over policymakers.
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