It is common for organizations of every size, shape, and industry to create and use Twitter accounts for customer service, human resources, and business development.
What about countries?
When U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley recently tweeted about Iran and Egypt and cities therein, he referenced each physical location by a hashtag.
By prefacing a keyword with the # sign, the word is tagged and becomes a link known as a hashtag; here are real-time hashtag searches about #Iran and #Egypt, for instance.
What if, or as an alternative to, every hashtag for a physical place there was an official Twitter account manned by that government's representative? The @USA Twitter account, in this way, could be staffed by the State Department, the General Services Administration, the FBI, whoever. Maybe every day a different agency tweeted responsive messages.
Think about it.
The next time you visit a country and announce that country in your tweet, how would you react if the country replied to you with a greeting? It could even be a generic welcome message.
Or, if you landed at an airport in some city and announced that landing, perhaps via a Foursquare check-in, the city or state welcomed you and thanked you for visiting and asked if you needed assistance with lodging?
Considering the state of Utah, for example, utilizes multiple Twitter feeds, some broadcast-only, and others responsive to citizens and visitors, why can't other cities and countries?
The ideas are endless.
-- Ari Herzog thanks you for reading What If a Country Tweeted on his blog.
Contact Ari: Twitter | Email | 978.558.0008
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