U.S. President Barack Obama’s #Compromise campaign, which blasted his Twitter followers with the handles of reps to write to, may have cost him some 36,000 followers. (Although he has 9.4 million followers left, and the White House now says the drop was worth getting a debt ceiling deal done.) But now it seems the White House Twitter account is picking up the slack.
@WhiteHouse has added 22,000 followers in the last six days, the administration says. That’s 3,100 followers per day, or a 37% increase on the amount of new followers @WhiteHouse got each day previously. More important for the account’s influence is all the engagement it’s getting: @ mentions of the White House account surged from 500 per day to more than 9,000, a 450% increase in the kind of metric that services like Klout care about.
The reason for all this retweeting? Office Hours, the daily question-and-answer session launched last Tuesday, starring officials from the National Economic Council answering questions on fiscal policy. While that might not sound like the biggest draw on Twitter, there are a handful of reasons that explain why followers are flocking. Firstly, the economics duo — Brian Deese and Jason Furman — are answering our questions on the debt ceiling, which has been on many minds of late. Secondly, as the name of the program suggests, they’re keeping regular, pre-announced daily hours that are amenable to U.S. users. Monday, for example, Deese will be fielding your queries from 5 p.m. ET.
And thirdly, the pair appear to have a sense of humor — as shown when they rickrolled a questioner complaining of boredom. A random Rick Astley video care of the White House may not help anyone’s understanding of economics and the debt crisis, but it certainly provided some much-needed levity.
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Posted on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:34:12 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/VeJsCKcVdGQ/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/01/white-house-twitter-qa-adds-3100-followers-per-day/#comments
@WhiteHouse has added 22,000 followers in the last six days, the administration says. That’s 3,100 followers per day, or a 37% increase on the amount of new followers @WhiteHouse got each day previously. More important for the account’s influence is all the engagement it’s getting: @ mentions of the White House account surged from 500 per day to more than 9,000, a 450% increase in the kind of metric that services like Klout care about.
The reason for all this retweeting? Office Hours, the daily question-and-answer session launched last Tuesday, starring officials from the National Economic Council answering questions on fiscal policy. While that might not sound like the biggest draw on Twitter, there are a handful of reasons that explain why followers are flocking. Firstly, the economics duo — Brian Deese and Jason Furman — are answering our questions on the debt ceiling, which has been on many minds of late. Secondly, as the name of the program suggests, they’re keeping regular, pre-announced daily hours that are amenable to U.S. users. Monday, for example, Deese will be fielding your queries from 5 p.m. ET.
And thirdly, the pair appear to have a sense of humor — as shown when they rickrolled a questioner complaining of boredom. A random Rick Astley video care of the White House may not help anyone’s understanding of economics and the debt crisis, but it certainly provided some much-needed levity.
More About: barack obama, office hours, twitter, White HouseFor more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:34:12 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/VeJsCKcVdGQ/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/01/white-house-twitter-qa-adds-3100-followers-per-day/#comments
