Why do governors need Twitter?

The presidential administration wants to prohibit governors from abusing Twitter, the Izvestia newspaper claims and provides a ranking of the most active microblog users among regional heads. The reason for the possible ban is scandals related to the talkativeness of governors.

The most active blogger among governors is Nikita Belykh , head of the Kirov region. He has long and regularly maintained a Live Journal, as well as Twitter. Belykh is known for posting messages during State Council meetings and during religious processions .

It was not possible to contact Belykh directly. Perhaps because he was preparing a special video message on the topic to all journalists and others at once.

“We can communicate at the level of press releases. It’s not difficult. And most people do just that. Or we can work in live communication mode, understanding that this live communication, given the Internet audience, is not something pleasant and comfortable. For The second option is easier for me. Therefore, I am not going to discuss the administration’s decision, especially since there are no decisions. (...) I believe that communication between governors and other officials in the microblogging system is a useful thing if people themselves want it. ..) There are cases when they try to blog through “I don’t want to.” Nothing good came out of it (...) For us, communication in this environment is something natural,” said Belykh. Standing next to him is Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, who also likes to use Twitter . Medinsky said that it was the microblogger Belykh who told him about Twitter.

On the second line of the newspaper's rating is Mikhail Men, governor of the Ivanovo region . “Twitter for us is an element of e-government. It is almost impossible to miss any issue, because the dialogue between the population and officials is in plain view,” Oleg Rakitov, head of the press service of the government of the Ivanovo region, explained to PublicPost. “Six months ago, Governor Mikhail Men began publishing There are fewer diary entries. Now people know that they can always contact the governor directly, and he will quickly respond and answer the question." Rakitov added that officials of the Ivanovo government have Twitter accounts, so you can also constantly keep in touch with them and monitor the completion of tasks.

Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko, who was in third place as the most active regional heads on Twitter, last updated his account at the end of August and was no longer in touch. Obviously, he does not need Twitter for either personal or government needs.

The official account of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev is updated regularly. Tkachev from time to time enters into dialogue with citizen readers. The most famous case that turned into a scandal was the advice to change jobs for medical equipment engineer Yuri Budilnikov, who asked the governor how he could live on 15 thousand rubles a month.

Sergei Morozov, head of the Ulyanovsk region, closes the top five microblogger governors. He is currently on a business trip to the United States, from where he is actively reporting on Twitter .

Dmitry Medvedev is considered the first active microblogger among representatives of the Russian authorities. In 2010, while serving as president, he created an account during a visit to Twitter's headquarters in Silicon Valley. The current president has neither personal nor official Twitter. At least no one knows about this.