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Citizen Engagement, Government, Technology

Thai PM leaps into Twitter's top 10

By Rob O'Brien | 19 October 2010

Thailand’s Prime Minister was a surprise entry into the top ten list of world leaders on Twitter, according to rankings published by a think tank.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was ranked tenth with 137,130 followers by Digital Daya, the online arm of the Digital Policy Council (DPC), an international think tank on 21st Century Governance.

Analysis as of October 2010 revealed that 20 per cent, or one out of five heads of state, are currently using the social media site Twitter.

“The DPC has recorded a strong movement towards open government as more leaders are aggressively pursuing social media channels as a new of type of direct communication with their citizens and the global community,” the report said.

A total of 33 world leaders out of 163 countries have accounts on Twitter set up in their personal name or through an official government office, a 50 per cent increase in the number of countries from the last quarter of 2009.

Barack Obama topped the list with 5,624,691 followers, with 10 Downing Street, the office of Prime Minister David Cameron, ranked second with 1,754,081 followers and Queen of Jordan Rania Al Abdullah third with 1,365,722 followers.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was ranked fifth with 677,566 followers.

The Japanese government launched its own open government portal in August of 2010 commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to utilise the Internet to promote Japanese citizen participation in public administration.

“The simple concept behind all these initiatives is good governance; that the adoption of Internet technologies can drive considerable efficiency and innovation to the practice of government,” the report said.

“This transformation mirrors the technology-enabled business process reengineering that has taken place in the private sector over the last decade.”

The heads of state in the Top 10 list has changed dramatically since the beginning of the year seeing four new entrants from Venezuela, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey along with the exit of some key proponents of social media due to political administration changeovers.

Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard fell to 14th with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak ranked 15th and the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea (HE Cheong Wa Dae) ranked 17th.

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