Canada unapologetic about creating new Twitter account

Canada published its first tweet today.

Yes, many Canadians have been on Twitter for years of course. But the country never had an official account before Wednesday. It opened up the account with a bit of classic Canadian self-deprecating humour.

The account, which links to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development Canada, quickly followed up with another joke about the Canadian reputation for politeness.

That set the tone for this account which isn’t setting out to be political, but promote Canada’s brand around the world. A couple of tweets sent later in the day explains the account will act as a “shop window” for Canada and that it will aim to reach an audience “beyond our borders.”

For day one on Twitter, the Canada account looks to be off to a good start. By 3:40 PM it had nearly 30,000 followers and was rising quickly. Its content shows an appreciation for Twitter as a medium, using @ tags, hash tags, and striking the right tone with humorous, casual messages that still communicate a point. It’s even following a handful of accounts appropriate to its mandate – the Prime Minister, several other federal ministers, some international diplomats, other government social media accounts, astronaut Chris Hadfield and HootSuite.

Of course the effort is bilingual too. The @AuCanada account is mirroring the messages of the English account so far.

What do you think of Canada’s Twitter efforts thus far? Let us know in the comments section.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Brian Jackson
Brian Jacksonhttp://www.itbusiness.ca
Editorial director of IT World Canada. Covering technology as it applies to business users. Multiple COPA award winner and now judge. Paddles a canoe as much as possible.

Featured Story

How the CTO can Maintain Cloud Momentum Across the Enterprise

Embracing cloud is easy for some individuals. But embedding widespread cloud adoption at the enterprise level is...

Related Tech News

Get ITBusiness Delivered

Our experienced team of journalists brings you engaging content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives delivered directly to your inbox.

Featured Tech Jobs