I have been following several US political leaders on Twitter, and I have found this to help me stay updated on current legislation and campaign stops for the presidential election. However, it gets confusing when I find that one leader has two different Twitter accounts. Which account is the “official” account of the leader?
I have been following the @johnboehner Twitter account for updates from the GOP House leader, John Boehner. I was quite surprised by a tweet that came from this account this afternoon that said, “Free Pelosi Premium” bumper sticker, and linked to The Freedom Project website. For some reason, it doesn’t seem professional for the leader of the GOP to be tweeting and encouraging followers to sign-up for a free negative bumper sticker regarding the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
After running a Google Search for “john+boehner+twitter”, I found that John Boehner has a page on his website listing his Twitter account as @GOPLeader. So now I am really confused! Is the @GOPLeader account his official Twitter account for his role as House Republican Leader, and the @johnboehner account his personal account? (I use the word “personal,” but completely understand that many accounts on Twitter are updated and monitored by staff members) Or is the The Freedom Project political action committee using his name on Twitter for their own use, and running the @johnboehner account?
Either way, this highlights the fact that it is difficult to determine the difference between “official” web accounts and “fake” web accounts.
If someone else was claiming to be me, would Twitter have a mechanism for me to claim my true identity? rnewyork asked “How can i stop an impersonator” on the Twitter Support discussion board 15 days ago, and a public response has yet to be posted.
Filed under: Politics, Technology , account, gop, house, john boehner, nancy pelosi, the freedom project, tweet, twitter
