Twitter Town Hall could become a trend

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee and about a dozen Washington state officials tried to answer questions and get suggestions about improving state government over Twitter on Thursday morning.

At one point during the one-hour Twitter Town Hall for Results Washington, his better government initiative, was “trending” in Seattle – meaning it was one of the most popular topics of Twitter discussion. And that, spokeswoman Jaime Smith said, was “pretty damn cool.”

Just how effective it was might be hard to quantify. The event itself drew more than 100 participants, although many were state agencies or other government officials checking in. Groups that regularly lobby the Legislature weighed in on issues like children’s health and early childhood education. And there were a few words from critics who wondered about all the resources  spent or the vagueness of some goals in Results Washington.

Some couldn’t be answered in the 140 characters allotted to a tweet and will show up next week on the website results.wa.gov.

Inslee’s office said it will try more Twitter Town Hall meetings, as well as other ways to reach out on social media. There is no set schedule, Smith said, but they provide a way to “get a pulse on which of the goals and areas are people most interested in.”

For more on Inslee’s Twitter Town Hall, go to spokesman.com/spincontrol.