“Curators of Sweden” – Social media (initially) gone wrong
Posted on December 10, 2011 by Anna
[Update] Quite a few blogs have picked up this post and to correct any misquoting saying I called it a “Publicity stunt” etc. I have not. As I write below I am not opposed to the idea. Just what the first curator tweeted, particularly during his first day. Since then there’s been some brilliant curators and lovely, insightful tweets. However, it doesn’t change the fact that social media does need to be monitored.
Yesterday I went to the Swedish Church’s Lucia celebration in St Paul’s here in London. It was beautiful and the Swedish ambassador Nicola Clase delivered a great Christmas message. So did the Very Reverend Michael Persson. In both their roles they were great ambassadors for Sweden. Just as they should in their official and trusted roles.
VisitSweden’s english twitter account @sweden are normally also great at promoting Sweden and their tweets are valuable even to live abroad Swedes. Yesterday they tweeted this:
How cool would it be if we would let potentially any swede use this twitter account?
It got 6 retweets and 2 replies. I wasn’t one of them. I like(d) the @sweden account the way it was. I’m not interested in hearing what any Swede has to say. If so I’d follow a bunch of random Swedes.
Today some random Swede has taken over the account. It’s a disgrace.
The idea
The take over of the @sweden twitter account is referred to as ‘The curators of Sweden’ and this is how it’s described on the accompanying site:
Every week another person receives exclusivity over the Twitter account @sweden, which aims to present the country of Sweden through the mix of skills, experiences and opinions it actually consists of.
The idea with Curators of Sweden is that 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 idea is that the curators, through their tweets, create interest and arouse curiosity for Sweden and the wide range the country has to offer.
It sounds interesting enough and from reading the full description from the site the take over could actually have been nice.
The reality
Well, that’s very different from what the About page is portraying. The take over started today and the tweets from the first so called curator of Sweden has so far included very little that’s promoting Sweden, in a good way. Instead this is what’s filling the @sweden twitter stream:
First, it’s the warm welcome from the so called curator of Sweden:
Listen up, folks! I’m @kwasbeb, a regular swedish dude, and I’m taking over this goddamned account for a week! Expect bad sex and slapstick.
— @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
Then he goes on telling us regular @sweden followers what we’re apparently now interested in
You’re following me because you’re interested in Sweden, right? Wrong! You’re interested in what I do! Thats what you’re interested in now. — @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
This is the kind of tweets he means and that according to the idea behind the take over are supposed to promote Sweden (includes an image of his bare legs btw)
So, let us talk, minions. This is me, swedish marketer and writer, in my full glory: instagr.am/p/YTnDi/
— @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
…and this type of tweets
Well, ok, I’ll swede the LOT of you: meat balls äre guud, änd naked girls make me sæy “jaa!”.
— @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
…and this
Actually, I don’t think George has any problems with the possible misinterpretations of this: 11points.com/images/classif…
— @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
…which includes a link to this image:
Not everyone likes the new direction the account is taking and this is the response from the curator to what’s happening on the account:
Noting that this account has lost about 40 followers since I took over. AM I NOT SWEDISH ENOUGH FOR YOU?!! — @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
And when Odd, one of the @sweden twitter account followers points out that Sweden deserves better than his tweets the curator replies:
@mastefixapara jag gör faktiskt det här för mig och ingen annan! — @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
Translation:
“I’m actually doing this for me and no one else”
The idea behind the account hasn’t even hit home to the current and first curator of Sweden.
Odd’s and Jack’s conversation goes on and Odd rightfully says that “We need a strong and loud voice that can portray the Swedish people and the beautiful landscapes from their best points. Is that you?” to which the curator arrogantly responds:
@mastefixapara i en vecka är det nog det. Det är ändå för mörkt för att ta schyssta skärmbakgrundsbilder av stan.
— @sweden / Jack (@sweden) December 10, 2011
Translation: “For a week it probably is. It’s too dark anyway to take cool desktop background pictures of the city”
Dear @sweden. I’m sure this is not what you had in mind when you said:
The idea with Curators of Sweden is that each curator will share both their own and relevant third party’s thoughts, stories, information and other content that is somehow linked to Sweden.
For all the wonderful things Sweden has to offer I highly recommend visiting www.visitsweden.com, just not the twitter account, for now.
Maybe it would be better if non-swedes people could also take the account for a week, and therefore, he/she can actually tweet how is going the adventure of living and working in Sweden, the reason for living in this country and what you enjoy most.
That would be another interesting view of Sweden. However, that kind of idea needs to be executed in another form which is not a takeover of an official twitter account. E.g. having it as part of a site. As the above tweets have shown, when it comes to social media you cannot rely on people playing by the “rules”. People tweet in the heat of the moment and it’s not always appropriate. Therefore a channel where contributions can be monitored to prevent spam and inappropriate content would be needed for something like that.
Hi Anna!
Let me begin by saying that I’m very glad you’re recommending visitsweden.com and that you have been happy in the past with our Twitter account :)
Now about our new approach on @sweden on Twitter it seems to me that you like the idea but you don’t like our first curator, Jack.
Granted, he is an outspoken person and his way of writing is certainly very different from our previous more official tone of voice. But if we are to be transparent and genuine in our presence on Twitter and truly show the wide range of what we as a country and as a people have to offer then we have to let go of some measure of control and have some faith in our people.
In 2012 you’ll probably have 50+ new curators to get acquainted with and I’m sure you’ll like some of them, if not most :)
Best regards,
–
Tommy Sollén @tommysollen
Social Media Manager
VisitSweden
Hi Tommy,
Yes, I have indeed really enjoyed your account and I do like the idea, though I still believe the execution of it is slightly flawed.
Firstly, the takeover. Having a guest tweeter is one thing. Doing a takeover of the account including changing the avatar is another. You run into all sorts of issues with how previous and future tweets are displayed as Twitter only supports one avatar at any given time. As a result whoever the current curator is, all tweets will look like they come from him or her. When you one day take back the account, if you do, I will look like you, the official body for marketing Sweden abroad, have tweeted all those things.
You did a great job with how your ran the account before. Will you no longer continue sharing useful information and promote Sweden that way? I can’t see that you have any other English Twitter account? Hopefully I’m wrong.
Secondly, about the content in the tweets. I’ve kept following what Jack is tweeting and it is getting better, and by better I mean less inappropriate tweets.
However, it doesn’t change the fact that I still don’t think most of them are of any relevance in promoting Sweden, but that is my opinion.
To the more severe matter, being transparent and genuine in your presence on Twitter does not equal that you need to let any content pass through your channel. Tweets with strong references to sex and racism are by most considered inappropriate and for an official body like yourself, encompassing promoting a whole country, I would certainly say that this applies to you. Code of conduct applies in everything we do. Both in our personal life and in business and the tweets I reference above do lack in that.
Our lovely country has so much to give and is full of great and interesting people. As you say yourself:
I do hope that your next curators will go the extra mile and do their best in sharing their gems with everyone else and that the tweets will live up to what the aim of the take over actually was:
Curators of Sweden
Best,
Anna
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Hej Anna!
Interesting read, I am sure there will be more discussion about Curators of Sweden in the future. Like Tommy, I hope you will enjoy the next ones better.
In the meantime, I would like to highlight that VisitSweden do have Twitter accounts in English both for the US and UK market. Please follow us at VisitSwedenUK for regular updates and news that I hope you´ll find of interest.
Best, Malin
Hej Malin,
Glad you do have other twitter accounts and yes, great with the discussions.
I’m sure there will be some very interesting people taking over the account in the next year and I look forward to seeing what they have to say. Pleased to see Hasan’s tweets which are starting out much better than Jack’s.
Merry Christmas.
Anna
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Hello,
I have enjoyed the visitsweden pages and the information therein several times when planning holidays. To me the one week ownership of @sweden by individuals is a brave experiment with social media, and it is unlikely to change my view about Sweden in general. If someone gets the stage for one week and wastes the opportunity with bad jokes, it’s his problem. In the internet everyone has the right to make a fool of himself.
Happy New Year,
Pekka
Hi Pekka,
Glad that you’ve found Visit Sweden useful. They do really great work.
I like your comment on wasting [his] opportunity with bad jokes and of course everyone’s got the right to make a fool of themselves, if they so wish. But, it’s different when you’re doing it on behalf of someone else.
The latest curators have been brilliant and do show a different and more personal side of Sweden. Hope they give you some inspiration for future trips. My personal gem is this little place on the Skåne coast – Knäbäckshusen http://www.knabackshusen.se/index-en.html
Highly recommend it :)
Happy New Year!
Anna
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Hej Anna!
Interesting analysis, and I somewhat agree with what you say, although I can also understand the VisitSweden’s point of view as well.
I lived in Sweden for 2 years, and I really love the country. I like your “lagom” concept, because I think that suits me well… :) however, I could also feel how “distant” and “impersonal” Swedes really are. It took A LOT of effort for an international student to really be friends with a Swede (perhaps this only happens when you’re a student…). So perhaps this new @sweden’s approach could also change the perception towards Swedes who usually are perceived as cold, distant, and impersonal. But, well, that’s just me. :)
As for the curators of Sweden, let’s hope that Jack was “just a rough start”, and as it rolls, it will show the true and beautiful colors that Sweden is.
Hej Nena,
Pleased to hear that you love the country and ‘lagom’. Great word isn’t it. I’ve heard what you say about getting to know Swedes before. Luckily it doesn’t go for all of us. Looking at the curators post Jack’s first day tweets, the quality has improved immensely and it’s definitely showing a different side to Sweden and Swedes.
Hope you’ll be back soon and meet some less reserved Swedes.
Anna
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