This morning, The New York Times exposed the story behind the @sweden Twitter account, an official page owned by the Swedish government that features a different citizen every week. Though Twitter declined to comment on national Twitter accounts, we thought it might be fun to see how other nations are using this highly-valued communications channel. As it turns out, Twitter may be underutilized as a government tool; in fact, most the accounts had been suspended, although Twitter does not explicitly disallow national handles.
@afghanistan: Suspended.
@antigua: Some guy kickin' it in Antigua.
@australia: This unofficial account has three tweets and more than 6,000 followers.
I went in a hot air balloon this morning... I'll post some images on the blog soon. PS - it was great fun!
— australia (@australia) February 6, 2011
@brazil: Suspended.
@brunei: Suspended.
@canada: A dutiful citizen (who also owns @japan) is attempting to hand this account over to the state.
@pmharper Trying to give this account to the Government of @canada | contact w/ @xabel
— canada (@canada) February 22, 2012
@colombia: Suspended.
@cuba: Suspended.
@egypt: Protected account owned by a girl in the Bay Area. Her bio reads: "I AM NOT EGYPT THE COUNTRY. OKAY? I AM. NOT. EGYPT. THE. COUNTRY."
@fiji: Someone tweeting in Japanese.
@greece: Two tweets and an egg.
@hungary: Hungary hasn't tweeted yet.
@india: Domain name supplier.
@iran: News aggregator The Iran Project.
@jamaica: Tweets news links about Jamaica to more than 11,000 followers.
@kazakhstan: Looks like someone trying to sell the handle.
Kazakhstan! Kazakhstan!
— Kazakhstan (@Kazakhstan) August 18, 2009
@laos: Run by Ray, in Nashville, Tenn.
@maldives: Tweets about the Maldives, mostly about hotels.
Book Now:: Hilton is having a SALE of 50%
— maldives (@maldives) June 11, 2012
@mexico: Surprisingly racy?
Something in her eyes told me I couldn't trust her.twitpic.com/7xc79n
— mexico (@mexico) December 23, 2011
@nepal: "A designer, a blogger, a dreamer, an enthusiast and a wanna be entrepreneur."
@panama: Suspended.
@peru: Suspended.
@poland: Suspended.
@rwanda: Suspended.
السلام عليكم
— المملكة العربية السع (@SaudiArabia) April 28, 2012
@singapore: Suspended.
@russia: Россия has a broken profile picture and no tweets.
@southafrica: "This is the Official Twitter page of South African Tourism for North America." It has been verified by Twitter.
@thailand: Suspended. Probably tweeted a picture of the king.
I hate myself when I explain life or some events by a few sentences. Is there anyone feeling the same?Lifeismorecomplexandnoonecanknowtruth
— uganda (@uganda) September 22, 2011
@usa: Some dude.