The Twitters were on fire this weekend over Anna Griffin’s Saturday column in the Oregonian, which suggested Mayor Sam Adams’ incessant Twittering is doing a disservice to his political ambitions:
This is attention-deficit governing, driven by insecurity and enabled by the iPhone. In the short term, it creates the false sheen of engagement. Over the long haul, it’s no way to build public support for the hard and expensive decisions to come.
Oh snap. Mayor Adams, who has over 16,000 followers, responded via Twitter, of course:
This morning, a sad, blank screen came up in place of Anna Griffin’s Twitter account, saying her account had been suspended “due to strange activity.” She’s back online now, but I bet some spiteful Twitter user flagged her account as a vengeful response to her column.
Despite the onslaught of Twitter support for the mayor and criticism directed at Griffin, the O columnist is actually one of my favorite Twitterers. She knows the medium, uses it well and understands that the majority of online conversations about city policy happen on Twitter and blogs, not mainstream media articles.
So why attack the mayor’s use of Twitter? Before Griffin’s account was suspended, Matt Davis suggested her publisher put her up to it. “@annargriff responds, on behalf of her paper’s publisher presumably, to @mayorsamadams ‘report on nobody reads O-live'” tweeted Davis on Saturday. Griffin dismissed the idea with a Tweet of her own: “@mattdavis999 Actually, the only conversation I’ve had with our publisher was about a column he hated. Nice conspiracy theory, though.”
Instead, Griffin explained just now via phone (so old fashioned!) that she sticks by her column’s point that Adams’ Twitter use is a “symptom for a bigger problem” with the mayor’s governing style. “I’m a fan of Sam, I want him to do well, but I think that he has trouble sticking to one task and following through on it. I’m not saying, ‘Get off Twitter.’ I’m saying, ‘Think about how you use it,'” says Griffin.
Personally, I think Twitter makes the Mayor more approachable and human, plus it helps publicize the incredible variety of discussions and events he participates in. But I think Griffin’s right that the fun, shallow, scattershot style of his Tweets reflect his working style in general. It reminds me of his fast-paced year in review video: youth corps! organic garden! depaving! streetcar! Okay, phew, what’s next?!
Giraffes!
This is an interesting topic of… Hey! Look! Butterflies! Want to go ride bikes? My mom made some rice crispie treats!
It’s fucking Twitter! She really is making an ass out of herself by trying to work this angle. This is like the time FOX news referred to Obama as President Poupon because he asked for some fancy mustard at a diner. NON STORY!!!
i was under the impression he had a staff to organize his calendar, keep him on schedule, etc. am i mistaken? is he the only elected official in Oregon running his own show & responsible for for his own administrative details?
I understood Griffin to be criticizing the WAY Mayor Adams uses Twitter, rather than the fact of his using Twitter.
This post from marketing guru Seth Godin seems relevant: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/20…
What is more inane than Twitter? People criticizing others over HOW they use Twitter….
*cough*penisenvy*cough*
How dare that reporter woman go after the Mayor like that. Chalk it up to yet another right wing homophobe.
God Oregonian just fucking die already. No one likes you. DO YOU EVEN GO HERE
HEY ANNA ever hear about PDf? Technology is Changing Politics.
6.3 million: that’s how many people viewed Obama’s 2008 race speech on YouTube.
8.7 million clicked to see him dance his way onto the Ellen show.
By the time the Democratic and Republican national conventions of 2008 rolled around, Obama’s team had uploaded about 1,110 videos on the candidate’s YouTube channel — more than four times what the McCain campaign had uploaded.
Maybe Sam has joined up with the PdF Network to access this:
Digital Conversations: Using Online Video to Grow Your Campaign
Thursday, February 4th, 1:00-2:00pm EST
Guest: Kate Albright-Hanna, Director of Video for New Media, Obama for America.
Feb 18th | Data is Power: How to Target Supporters & Win Votes in 2010 | Jeff Crigler, CTO, Catalist & Clay Haynes, Marketing Director, Catalist | RSVP here.
PdF:
Personal Democracy Forum’s blog TechPresident brings you a summary of the most interesting and provocative trends & analysis on how the internet is changing politics and governance.
On techPresident.com, we’re watching how political campaigns, government, non-profits, and activists use the web.
PersonalDemocracy.com is the home of the PdF Conferences, the PdF Network, and the home for our online resources including content from prior events.
Pity The Poor Oregonian. I am grateful for the half page article they did about my sidewalk astronomy with nice large photo a few years ago. [Sun Struck – Mark Seibold Carries The Torch for the Earth’s Brightest Star, Metro Extra Section, Aug 15th 2001] The few letters to the editor I wrote and they published about important issues like, the Homeland Security deporting my wife back to her overseas home and putting an end to our marriage because they could and my other letter to the editors about the importance of solar power [that was way back in 2003] but attacking the Mayor for using Twitter wrongfully? You mean to say that a journalist is going to tell us how she uses it properly? Isn’t it a weak link in technology anyway? Limited to what? 140 characters? Is this news or just Big-O hubris!? No wonder the old world of printed news is set to die soon. Isn’t there any real news to write about in Portland any longer? How about commending the Mayor for his fine efforts in supporting the Portland Arts?