Jamaica

The Jamaican Prime Minister joined Twitter in December 2011. Since then she has tweeted in a semi-regular but consistent manner. Her Twitter feed provides regular updates on her agenda and videos from her activities, positions on policy topics, among which social development issues (most used hashtags include #jamaica, #peoplepower, #jamaica50), as well as important announcements and statements, with links to the website of the Jamaica Information Service http://www.jis.gov.jm. Portia Simpson Miller follows no peers but is followed by @PMkamla of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica also has an institutional Twitter account set up under Prime Minister Bruce Golding in June 2009. The majority of tweets are generated from the Prime Minister’s Facebook page. Posts are typically activity-oriented and include news alerts, announcements, and updates from the events that the Prime Minister’s office is holding. Press briefing statements, sanctioned initiatives, budget announcements, cabinet appointments, speeches, social events and Christmas messages are other examples of her Twitter broadcasts. The account tweets on average twice a day. The Twitter channel gives the impression that the government office is keen to be connected to the community, but there is almost no engagement on the account.