Council top of the twits!

COUNCILS in Greater Manchester have been declared “top of the twits” — with Oldham leading the way.

But far from being derogatory, the local authorities have been praised as the title refers to using social networking websites to engage with residents.

Oldham is one of nine out of the 10 councils in Greater Manchester that uses the popular website Twitter to communicate and has been hailed for seizing the opportunity.

Only Bolton Council has not got in on the action by using Twitter, which now has 2.6 million UK users.

It involves posting regular short messages to keep followers informed. Oldham Council uses it to promote events and organisations, such as theatre workshops, competitions, children’s activities and clubs.

Research conducted by ntl:Telewest Business discovered that Greater Manchester councils are leading the pack of local authorities using Twitter.

It found that 42 per cent of local authorities nationally used an official Twitter account to keep ‘twitizens’ informed of local events, news and job opportunities.

The firm has calculated the cost of interacting with the public via the web is 27p per visitor, compared to £6.56 per face-to-face visit.

Andy Marshall, head of business markets for ntl:Telewest Business in the North-West, said: “Communication is at the heart of successful government, meaning that improving citizen contact has become a key aim for local authorities.

“As more and more people in Greater Manchester embrace social networking sites such as Twitter, councils can use these new channels to provide information, interact with their local community and create ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders.

“With a clear digital strategy, guidelines and robust high speed network in place to support these tools, councils will benefit from direct communication channels to people.”

Oldham’s twittering is on www.twitter.com/OldhamSummer.