Tips from the top-tweeting mayors
Connecting state and local government leaders
Mayors are increasingly relying on Twitter because it lets them take their messages directly to residents.
The country’s mayors have taken to Twitter as a low-cost and effective way to connect with voters and residents to share city news.
That’s according to “The Tweet Elite: 25 Mayors Who Have Mastered Twitter,” a report that tracked the Twitter activity of each mayor from the 250 largest cities for 60 days to find the 25 mayors who have mastered the art of the tweet. The research, conducted by the Development Counsellors International marketing firm, ranked mayors on their number of followers, frequency of tweets, responsiveness through reply tweets, engagement and influence on fellow mayors.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake earned the top spot by engaging on Twitter every day and talking to followers rather than at them. She suggested carefully reading what people write and using Twitter to directly help citizens when possible. Don’t stress over typos, she added.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said she likes using Twitter as a communications tool because it forces her to be straightforward and to the point. Mayors should realize that “public officials have to meet residents where they are,” she said. If District residents are on Twitter, local government should be as well.
“Be yourself,” Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto said, joking that he likes to scare his team with what he might tweet next. Because it gives mayors opportunities to be direct and multi-dimensional, he said, tweeting should not be delegated to staff.
Other mayoral Twitter master included Atlanta’s Kasim Reed, who had the largest number of followers based on the city’s population, and of Jackson, Miss., Mayor Tony Yarber, who had the largest average daily number of reply tweets. Tied for first in peer influence -- with each having 32 other mayors among their followers -- were Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., and Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, Calif.
Read the full report here.
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