Minister Tifatul Sembiring uses Twitter to get public input

Aditya Suharmoko ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 10/29/2009 3:51 PM  |  Jakarta

How can a top government official receive input directly from the people? Tweeting is new Information and Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring’s method of choice.

Since his installation last week, Tifatul has been introducing himself to fellow Twitterers with the nickname @tifsembiring and many people have responded to him immediately.

While many politicians are known for being serious figures, Tifatul likes to tweet funny poems. He is looking for input from the people by asking what they want in the telecommunications sector, using hash #tifsembiringasking.

Asked whether he writes the tweets himself, Tifatul said, "Sometimes I do. Tweeting is short so I can still write them."

As a comparison, tweets from @boediono, the Vice President, are not written by him, but by his staff.

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