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.
.@Canada's now on Twitter, eh! pic.twitter.com/OQAAYohuwL
— Canada (@Canada) November 26, 2014
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.
.@Canada does not apologize for this new Twitter account. #sorrynotsorry
— Canada (@Canada) November 26, 2014
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.