In 2011, Mr. Rodríguez Salas, a career politician and the Mayor of a small Spanish town called Jun, asked his town officials — from his deputy to the street sweeper — to open accounts on Twitter and send messages about their daily activities.
The goal, he said, was to create greater accountability and transparency over how Jun was run. Since then, the entire town has begun using the social media platform to interact with government and city officials on a daily basis.
Need to book a doctor’s appointment? Do it on Twitter.
Check our your kid’s lunch menu for the week? Yep, it’s on Twitter.
And if you see something suspicious going on in town, you can take to Twitter for that, too – the local police force responds to their account in real time.
People in Jun can still use traditional methods, like completing forms at the town hall, to obtain public services. But Mr. Rodríguez Salas said he has created a digital democracy where residents interact online almost daily with town officials.
“Everyone can speak to everyone else, whenever they want,” said Mr. Rodríguez Salas to the New York Times. “We are on Twitter because that’s where the people are.”
