Media News - Friday, October 23, 2009

Russia: Using Twitter to take spin to the next level

The Russian Communications and Press Ministry is looking for a company to provide the technology needed to allow bureaucrats to promote state interests on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. The technology, possibly a computer program, should also allow bureaucrats to sift through discussion topics on professional and ordinary social networks by categories such as profession, subject and date, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement. The ministry said it was offering up to RUB 5m (almost USD 166,000) to the company that could provide “effective mechanisms of promoting the interests of the federal bodies of the executive branch of power on specialized social networking sites.” The winning bidder will also need to research the Russian-language Internet for specialized social networking sites, “draft a concept” to promote state interests through the web sites, and propose “methods of monitoring” the sites in order to “boost the effectiveness” of the activities of state bodies on the sites, the documents for the tender said. The ministry said in the e-mailed statement that it was also considering tracking discussions at social networking sites operating in languages other than Russian. The ministry plans to sign a contract with the winning bidder on Dec. 10. (Moscow Times)

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