London: The British government on Tuesday asked government departments to "tweet" on "issues of relevance or upcoming events" under a new strategy to effectively use digital channels to communicate with Internet-savy public.
Under the new government guidance published on the Cabinet Office website, civil servants have been asked to use the micro-blogging site Twitter.
The 20-page document is calling on departments to "tweet" on "issues of relevance or upcoming events".
The website is already used by Downing Street, the Foreign Office and many individual MPs.
Writing on the Cabinet Office's digital engagement blog, Neil Williams, of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), conceded that 20 pages was a "a bit over the top for a tool like Twitter" but added: "I was surprised by just how much there is to say -- and quite how worth saying it is."
The template had been written for BIS to consider using Twitter but could be used by other departments, BBC quoted Williams as saying.
Publishing tweets, replying to incoming messages and monitoring the account would take less than an hour a day, according to the strategy.
The advice says BIS should produce between two and 10 tweets per day, not including replies to other Twitterers or live coverage of a crisis or event.
Tweets should also be limited to issues of relevance or upcoming events rather than just campaign messages, and insights from ministers are encouraged.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "At the moment, around 65 per cent of homes are on the internet and there are 15 million visits a month to the UK government's 'directgov' website and these numbers are growing.
"With more and more citizens using the internet it's important that, as part of its communications approach, the government develops its capability to use digital channels effectively and that includes social media tools such as Twitter."
More than one million people follow Downing Street's business via Twitter.
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