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Schwarzenegger drops in on Twitter
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid a call at Twitter, praising the microblogging sensation as a way to stay in tune with what voters are thinking.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid a call at Twitter, praising the microblogging sensation as a way to stay in tune with what voters are thinking.
Schwarzenegger's chat with Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams in the Internet firm's San Francisco offices was streamed online in a "tweetcast" and ranged from bodybuilding to the state's budget woes.
"Social networking, I think, is something you have brought to the ultimate level," Schwarzenegger yesterday told Stone and Williams. "It is brilliant what you came up with, staggering."
Schwarzenegger voiced certainty that the pair weren't thinking about a role in an Iranian revolution when they created the microblogging service.
"It was low on the list," Williams quipped as Stone emphatically shook his head to indicate "No."
In July, Twitter became a key communications tool for Iranians protesting the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Twitter users outside Iran changed time and location settings to make it appear they were messaging from Tehran to make it harder for authorities to find those really tweeting from that country.
Schwarzenegger, whose office is well wired into Internet technologies, described Twitter as an effective way for politicians to get real-time feedback from voters.
