The Prime Minister’s Office is on twitter, and the media was instantly gushing and optimistic. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‘s office made its debut on popular microblogging site Twitter on Monday. The new media foray by the PMO comes in the wake of TV journalist Pankaj Pachauri taking over as Communications Adviser to the Prime Minister.
“The Prime Minister’s work should be in the public domain so that people know that the government is functioning for their benefit,” PMO sources said, Hindustan Times reported.
“The Twitter account of the PMO will have regular updates on the Prime Minister’s programmes in near real time. In future, there would be more information available immediately to the media,” the sources said. The PMO Twitter account can be accessed at http://twitter.com/pmoindia,” reported IBNlive.
As this piece is written the account has posted all of three updates, follows absolutely no one, is followed by 5,980 and is on 57 lists.
And if you thought that you would get an idea of the Prime Minister’s views on matters that matter to you, such as the state of reforms, corruption, inflation, and so on, think again.
If the first few tweets are an indication, the twitter account is, simply put, PIB-on-twitter.
“You make all of us proud”– PM tells young bravehearts at Bravery Award function, said the first tweet.
“PM gives away National Bravery Awards,” said the second.
“PM with Bravery Award Winners: http://pic.twitter.com/9iZ29Axe” is the latest update.
One would have hoped that we would hear the PM’s views on the Rushdie controversy and the roles allegedly played by Congress governments at the state and the centre. No such luck. What about the PM’s views on the Norway ruling on Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya’s children. No, the PMO has nothing to say on that either.
The PMO’s understanding of the use of twitter is clear when you see that the account follows no one at all. The PMO account will be broadcasting, not interacting. It will tell all of us what the PMO wants us to know. It will not be engaging and cerebral, it will be banal and boring, as seen by the first few tweets. It will not be a meeting place for, say, opinion-leaders and thinkers of the country and the prime minister’s office.
All it’s going to be is PIB on twitter. Time to unfollow the account.
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