Beijing (CNS) -- The year 2011 witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of governmental and official Weibo accounts, and the occassions they were used, says Sina Editor-in-chief Chen Tong. The provider of China's largest Weibo platform has declared it the first year of the 'government Weibo age.'
Since Weibo made its great public splash in 2010,the first year of the 'Weibo age,' government organs and officials gradually turned to this tool to increase the frequency and efficiency of government-public interactions, especially with public security offices. This came out at the 2011 Government Weibo Annual Summit, the first of its kind co-held by the public opinion supervision department under people.com.cn. and Sina Weibo, on Monday.
Attendees from academia, media and government bodies exchanged views on the report which concludes the development and prospects into the future of government and official Weibo practices.
Report: more talk, more action
By early November, nearly 20,000 Weibo accounts were verified as government and official users. The Weibo user group are their service targets and has been expanding by more than 100 million per year since the rise of Weibo in 2009, says the report.
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, the Chinese international rescue team and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the top three governmental institutions making best use of the tool, the report concludes.
The report goes on to say that Weibo provides a universal platform for authorities to release information to residents, facilitate public services, or assist the public security sector in particular,delivering progressive reports on cases that draw wide attention from the general public.
It also reveals the key to the popularity and effectiveness of these official accounts is their mild and friendly tone, which caters to public tastes and is rewarded by warm responses.
Scholar: opportunity to introduce public participation to governance
Some say with the advent and wide spread use of Weibo as a kind of public spotlight, officials and government offices should be careful to behave themselves. Professor Wang Yukai at the China National School of Administration foresees a national trend: the Weibo platform is changing the communication pattern between the Chinese government and the Chinese public.
In Professor Wang's view, Weibo functions as a supervision intermediary by allowing rapid exposure of official misconduct and direct evaluation of the government's performance; it also widens public awareness, which, in the long run, will ensure society of government transparency.
The minorities, noted Zhang Jianjing, executive deputy editor-in-chief of China Reform magazine, are entitled to more opportunities to express their concerns with all the conveniences brought by Weibo, and those concerns will reach decision-makers faster than ever before.
It is a revolutionary change for the country's leaders at every level, said Zhu Huaxin, an analyst from the public opinion supervision department under people.com.cn. Government officials still have to improve opportunities for frank, equal and timely exchanges, and perfect an official communication regime to make full use of Weibo's potential.
