City's microblogs still need time
- Source: Global Times
- [12:18 April 25 2011]
- Comments
By Li Mao
Due to a less open nature, Shanghai government microblogs still need time to develop over those launched by government officials from other places in the country, according to new research from Fudan University.
The school examined the microblogs of some 1,708 government departments and 720 government officials in 32 provinces and cities in two separate studies released at the end of last week, one focused solely on the situation in Shanghai, and the other on the rest of the country. The latter said that of all the government departments in the country, police microblogs are the largest in number, totalling some 1,228 of them.
Shanghai microblogs were docked for its openness mostly because government officials in the metropolitan city are far less open and personally connected with local communities through the use of microblogs, said Zhang Zhi'an, lead researcher of the study and vice dean of the School of Journalism at Fudan University.
"Shanghai officials are under immense pressure when it comes to official business," he told the Global Times Sunday. "They're under much greater scrutiny compared to officials from smaller cities."
"So, they prefer to say less and err on the side of caution so as not to put their jobs or careers in jeopardy," he added.
But while government officials are increasingly turning to mircoblogs to get their messages out, the new media tool is unlikely to give the public any real power in the decision-making process anytime soon, according to Zhang.
"We can't ignore that censorship still exists, and therefore, the potential power of microblogs in allowing a true public voice should not be overestimated," he said.
Shanghai's cautionary tale is also seen through the platforms used to promote its official microblogs, the majority of which are found on local websites eastday.com and xinmin.cn rather than on popular national websites like other frequently used microblogs, said Zhang.
"This affects the reach of their influence, and it again shows how local governments are cautious in their use of this new technology," he added."
But within due time, Shanghai is likely to catch up in the rankings, added Zhang.
"Shanghai only started using microblogs last year, while other places like Jiangsu began using the new media tool a year earlier," he said. "So, they've had more time to gain the trust of their communities."
Excluding Jing'an, the city's 18 district level governments and 13 of its municipal government departments had registered microblog accounts as of March this year, according to the study.
Zhang suggested that official microblogs in the city follow the approach used by the Shanghai Municipal Urban-Rural Development and Transport Commission, which has made the most impact among Internet users with more than 4,000 followers due to its routine tweets about issues that impact the daily lives of local residents.