Newly elected Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls himself an “early adopter” of technology and social media and on Thursday he proved that point when he became the first mayor in the country to feature his very own Google+ brand page, an option that Google has just begun to roll out.
Speaking of his new Google+ presence the Chicago mayor said:
“This is an exciting new way for us to continue an open, public dialogue with Chicagoans and the 40 million people using Google+,” and “We will continue to search for new, innovative ways for the public to stay connected and hold government accountable.”
Emanuel has not yet opened any circles on his Google+ page however given his proactive approach to social media I’m pretty sure he’ll be moving forward to build up his Google+ presence post haste.
You may recall that Rahm also helped Chicago become the first city to have an official Foursquare badge which allows tourists to earn the prize by visiting various Chicago landmarks such as Green Mill and the Michael Jordan statue.
Rahm is also a regular tweeter who talks to his constituents and asks questions through the 140 character social media service.
While he is active in social media Rahm is still missing a Tumblr page (Obama has one) and he doesn’t appear to use LinkedIn at this time.
Do you think politicians in this day and age need to focus more of their efforts on the social media arena in order to get elected and stay connected to the people who put them in office?
