Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey is one of the few government leaders who does sometimes tweet himself, writing his personal tweets on his iPad and signing them MR as he did when he sent his first tweet: “In the fast train reaching Barcelona. Despite my inexperience I am thrilled to use my Twitter for the first time. I count on everyone in it. MR”. The account was set up a few months before the elections but since becoming prime minister he continues using his personal account. Tweets are divided between those written in the first person singular, announcing where he is at a specific moment, his views on a certain topic, etc. and tweets in the first person plural showing the perspective of his team. The range of topics is very wide and covers meetings, opinions on the economy and politics, among other things. The account is very active with an average of 14 tweets/day and it is also refreshingly conversational with 78% of tweets being @replies. Incidentally the most re-tweeted tweet was a reply to a 15-year-old boy who just asked for the electoral programme: “@Rubeen_69, 15 years old? How about we wait a bit before we discuss politics? Thanks.” This unfortunate tweet became mainstream news in several online media and was an example of wrong management of the conversation.

@desdelamoncloa literally means “from La Moncloa Palace”, which is the official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister. The official Twitter account of the Spanish government was set up on 20 July 2009 under Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The account’s main goal is to inform people about the government’s activities, not only the Prime Minister’s but also the activities of other ministries. It announces upcoming press conferences, speeches, parliamentary sessions, etc. A high percentage of tweets link directly to other sources of information, such as press releases, special reports and videos, among others, most of them relate to day-to-day government work. The account publishes on average five tweets/day. There is regularity in the publication of some messages, which are tweeted daily to keep followers informed: the daily news report, the government’s agenda… 90% of the account’s tweets are re-tweeted. The most retweeted tweet was the publication of the emergency telephone number and the email of the Spanish embassy in Tokyo after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.