Everyday Swedes take over management of nation's Twitter account

The Swedish tourism agency has convinced the government to turn over management of the official national Swedish Twitter account to everyday Swedes, on a rotating basis, to show the world what a swell place full of swell people Sweden is. I want brokep to run the account for a week.

“No one owns the brand of Sweden more than its people. With this initiative we let them show their Sweden to the world,” says Thomas Brühl, the CEO of the country’s tourism agency VisitSweden.
Curators of Sweden is certainly an interesting idea; a variety of Swedes, including an editorial writer, a founder of an advertising agency with his own farm, a suburban writer, a priest, a teacher and a coffee-drinking trucker lesbian are all lined up to take over the account in coming weeks. The plan is that they will portray a diverse range of values, skills and ideas from across the country.

It's interesting in that this combines the best aspect of live theater with the Internet -- that is, the ever-present possibility that someone will do something absolutely insane in a highly public forum while acting in an official capacity.

Sweden lets citizens take over its official Twitter account. This is either genius or insanity. (via Runnin' Scared)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Business • happy mutants • sweden • tourism • twitter • web theory

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benher

1 vote for genius.
William Gordon

I don’t mind trucker lesbians, so long as they’re coffee-drinking trucker lesbians.

And who knew MC Paul Barman made it to Sweden?
- http://twitter.com/joshberkbooks Josh Berk
  
  I *thought* that was a Barman lyric! Amaaaaaaaaaaaazing.
Just_Ok

And boingboing should turn over editing to everyday readers.
- juepucta
  
  *points at submitterator*
frijole

+1 for genius move.

I followed @sweden:twitter , so its clearly working :p
Moriarty

Oh, I see, so they’re pre-vetted everyday Swedes. That makes it a lot more reasonable, but also a lot less interesting than what I initially thought, that they would just be picking people at random.
- Daneel
  
  You want the moon on a stick!
  - benher
    
    It comes on a stick now?! I miss the Minnesota State Fair…
Sxe

I’d love the same process to happen with @Canada… sadly the account is orphaned by a benevolent holder who can’t seem to put it into the appropriate hands! Perhaps the BoingBoing exposure will help.
http://twitter.com/PsychicWhoosh Michael W.

I can’t wait ’til it’s Lizbeth Salander’s turn and she posts all that damning confidential information exposing rampant misogyny in the Swedish tourism agency.
- ffabian
  
  Which Salander? The proper european one or the american clone variant?
http://twitter.com/jschunter jschunter

“the ever-present possibility that someone will do something absolutely insane while acting in an official capacity.”

Isn’t this what we already experience in daily politics anyway..? ;-)