Council Tops 1,000 Twitter Followers
More than 1,000 people are now getting the latest information about the borough and the Conservative Council by following @lbrut on social networking website Twitter. Residents, workers, journalists, businesses and even the House of Lords have started following the authority.
The Council tweets details of road closures during rugby matches in Twickenham, entertainment for children during the school holidays, available jobs, arts and libraries events and news about current projects every day as well as many other items of information.
Cllr Sam Salvoni, Conservative Cabinet Member for Community Development, said: “I’m pleased so many people think what we have to say is worth reading about. The Council’s work does have an effect on people’s lives so by using Twitter we can explain directly to residents what we’re doing and why we do it.
“The other very useful feature, as many of our followers know is that we regularly issue real time updates on road closures. This is information people can receive direct to their phones as it happens, which can be a lifesaver for anyone in a rush. We just couldn’t do this through traditional means of communicating with people. Councils have to change with the times and Twitter is a good example of that.
“Together with our Facebook pages and the My Richmond Villages webpages we are building an online community where people can talk directly with the Council and other residents about issues that interest them. They can use Twitter to ask us about anything the Council is responsible for or follow what other people are saying. This is a great way for us to learn direct from people what is important to them so we can tailor services to suit local needs.
“In the last few months we have recognised the importance of this method of communication, and our followers have risen dramatically. We now have a policy of making sure all important Council news is tweeted quickly and we are winning more followers daily. I would encourage all residents who use twitter to find our feed and follow us to keep up to date.”
The Council has tweeted more than 1,150 times since launching the pages. Twitter users can follow the Council by searching for @LBRUT or look at the Council’s feed at www.twitter.com/lbrut
