At
UN, Tale of 12
Twitter Feeds,
Missions Tweet
Stakeouts,
Facebook
Start-Ups
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 15 --
It was by
Twitter alone
that the
French Mission
to the UN
announced two
press
stakeouts last
Friday by its
Permanent
Representative
to the UN. Not
surprisingly,
the turnout
was low -- in
fact, only
Inner City
Press at the second of
the two
stakeouts, on
Mali.
So
it seems
timely,
especially in
this
mid-August
lull, to
review some
UN Mission's
twitter
accounts, and
wonder how
long it will
be until
all 193 UN
members -- and
Palestine and
the Holy See
-- establish
their twitter
feeds.
Beyond
its many
spokespeople,
the US Mission
to the UN
maintains @USUN, the
most recent
tweets
of which
involve
Ambassador
Susan Rice's
time
representing
President
Barack Obama
as the closing
of the London
Olympics.
The
UK Mission to
the UK tweets
frequently on
@UKUN_NewYork,
for example
yesterday
about Ali
Saleh supporters'
assault
on the Yemeni
Defense
Ministry,
about which
the UN at its
noon briefing
said it was
not
even aware.
On
the Latin tip,
@GuatemalaONU
while serving
in the
Security
Council
last tweeted
about its vote
for the Syria
resolution in
the General
Assembly on
August 3. This
even is its
affable expert
greeted Inner
City Press on
her way into
the GRULAC
Third
Committee
meeting about
the rights of
the child.
The
Syria GA vote
is @NorwayUN's
second most
recent tweet,
superseded by
an
announcement
of the
sheathing of
the Empire
State Building
in
Norway's
colors for its
participation
in the
Olympics.
One wondered:
couldn't many
other
countries get
that as well?
Former
Permanent
Representative
of Norway
Morten
Wetland, a
tweeter
himself, has
gone
back to work
at First
House, from
which one
hopes he'll
tweet. Robert
Mood began but
stopped.
Going
Germanic,
@GermanyUN's
last tweet is
about a
meeting on,
what else,
the future of
the Euro.
Targets
of
Security
Council
sanctions can
have their
twitter too,
although
@EritreaUN's
only tweet so
far this year
involves their
cycling team.
While
not a member
state, though
sometimes said
to seek to
speak like
one,
the @EUatUN
has announced
it is moving
this month
from its
offices on
41st Street --
but the new
address, on
Third Avenue,
didn't
fit in
the tweet,
ran over its
the EU's page
on Facebook.
(Inner City
Press, with
voluteer help,
is just
starting Beta
dabbling in
Facebook, here:
http://www.facebook.com/innercitypress
Poland's
@PLinUN
covered Beyonce
in the GA, as
did Inner
City Press.
@SwedenUN
did
indigenous.
@PalauUN
promises
sub-tweets,
with
Ambassador
Stuart
J. Beck
notated as
SJB.
South
Africa's
@SAMissionNY
hasn't tweeted
since
February, but
when it did
it was about
Palestine.
Italy's
@ItMissionUNNY
does a lot of
re-tweeting,
but had an
exclusive last
month about
Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson at
the UN Staff
College in
Turin.
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon
himself is
often (mis)
represented by
@secgen,
which merely
takes his
daily public
schedule and
puts it
online, even
if the events
are canceled
or don't fit
into 140
characters.
And so
it goes, with
the UN and
social media.
We
will have more
on this. Watch
this site -
and pitch us
your feeds!
, 
