How The World's Most Powerful Are Using Twitter

The DPC, or the Digital Policy Council, annually observes social media use among world leaders particularly, on the website Twitter.com. For its fourth annual research in 2013, 80 percent of world leaders or four of five are found to have already been using the social media network. The usage of leaders has continued through the years but has somewhat decreased in terms of growth. From 2011 to 2012, the rise was 78 percent but the 2012 to 2013 growth was only 8 percent. The DPC is an international group that provides services to world leaders related to digital media. The United States President Barack Obama is at the top spot with over 16 million followers in one year. One of the main reasons for his continued popularity in 2013 is the government shutdown. The Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono joined Twitter in 2013 and currently has over 4 million followers. Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates garnered the number seven spot. He currently has over 2 million followers. One of the reasons for his popularity is his open-mindedness to various cultures. Cristina Fernandez de Krichner, President of Argentina garnered the number six spot. According to the findings of DPC, two-thirds of nations that use Twitter are politically stable. Chinese leaders, however, are not present on social media. Even on its own social network site Sina Weibo, Chinese leaders are not as active. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom have Sina Weibo accounts. For 2014, the results show that world leaders using Twitter will most likely reach 90 percent. Social media sites have shown to be very useful in terms of spreading information as well as providing opportunities for citizens to discuss important issues and news with leaders. Creating a social media account is an excellent way to get closer to the public without the usual privacy risks.