Facebook can cause “MP envy”

More praise for Tom Brake, who has been using Facebook as one of his channels for communicating with constituents:

Emily Bell writes in the Guardian:

“I’m envious of my colleague who can ask her MP, Tom Brakes [sic], to look into matters of irritation at Carshalton station. He does it, and registers that he has on his Facebook status. She feels she has a personal relationship with her MP, something a thousand doorstepping exercises would never achieve.”

Mark posted recently about MPs’ uptake of various internet tools, and the fact that there are many to choose from.

Tom Brake’s use of Facebook is a good example of choosing an appropriate tool and using it, rather than sticking it on the desktop as a trophy. MPs (at least if they’re doing it right) have demanding schedules – but it’s not enough to simply throw social media at the electorate without understanding the interactivity that gives them the name “social.”

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One Comment

  • Posted 26th February 2009 at 6:55 pm | Permalink

    Yeah, Facebook and Twitter are one of those places where MPs can update their status during their traveling times, etc..

    If more MPs were doing it, then we’d all start to get an understanding of what they get up to during their day.

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