Mayor Daley A-Twitter?

By Marcus Gilmer in Miscellaneous on Mar 16, 2010 4:15PM

Social media has reached a new level of government today. Former Chicagoista/current News Hour-ian Kate Gardiner tipped us off to what appears to be Mayor Daley's Twitter account. Of course, we're not so gullible as to believe that the man who admits he doesn't even read the newspaper would actively maintain his own Twitter account. Still, the idea of him tweeting from a City Council meeting (a la Peraica) cracks us up: "Wish this Dumke kid would stop bugging me. Maybe I'll egg his house LOL!!1!!1!" And in case you're wondering who the Mayor is following, they include his own Office of Special Events, President Obama, the White Sox, and Oprah.

We shouldn't be all that surprised that his PR folks have launched this: he already has his own YouTube page and the twitter account seems timed to coincide with the City's $1.8 million website makeover, which also lists a bevy of civic social media resources. And it can be an effective way for his office to reach citizens. Still, the move has us wondering how worried the Mayor is about the 2011 election.