The government of Sweden is letting ordinary citizens take over the official Swedish Tourism Twitter account and say whatever they want.
A little while back, some bright fellow at VisitSweden, the country’s official tourism agency, had a thought: what would happen if normal, everyday Swedish citizens were put in charge of the nation’s Twitter account? Nothing terribly remarkable about that – people have dumb ideas all the time – except that VisitSweden took the idea a step further and actually made it happen.
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 set to take over the @sweden account for one week each. First up is a man named Jack, who announced his presence to the world a few days ago.
“I’m @kwasbeb, a regular swedish dude, and I’m taking over this goddamned account for a week!” he wrote. “Expect bad sex and slapstick.”
No, it’s not just smiling, tourist-friendly folks in cultural costumes. “Each curator will share both their own and relevant third party’s thoughts, stories, information and other content that is somehow linked to Sweden,” the Curators of Sweden website says. “The idea is that the curators, through their tweets, create interest and arouse curiosity for Sweden and the wide range the country has to offer. The expectation is that the curators will paint a picture of Sweden, different to that usually obtained through traditional media.”
Which isn’t to say that tips for tourists won’t come up occasionally. For those considering a visit to Sweden’s famous Ice Hotel, for instance, Jack has some advice. “You pay like $50, and for that one you get one (1) Absolute Vodka drink to enjoy in the freezing cold,” he tweeted. “If you want the same experience but cheaper, my tip is to just get drunk in your refrigerator.”
You better believe I’m following it.
Source: The Next Web
Published: Dec 16, 2011 06:36 pm