Mayor Parker On Twitter, Facebook And Those Nasty People Who Leave Comments On Blogs

By Richard Connelly Tue., Feb. 23 2010 at 10:02 AM

Categories: Political Animals

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Intrepid blogger Mike McGuff has an interview up with mayor Annise Parker on her -- and the city's -- use of social media in the past and the future.

"She reveals the steps her campaign took to effectively utilize social media and the blogosphere to win the votes," McGuff tells Hair Balls.

Not that she's a social-media maniac. "The bloggers my campaign taught me how to tweet," she told McGuff. "Iit's still not a natural thing, I don't think, 'Oh I have to get my phone out and tweet.'" But how will we know what you had for lunch, what you think about iPad or every little bump or slight wait involved in your trying to get customer service somewhere?!?!

How does Parker feel about people who comment on blog items? Read on before you comment yourself.

"I love reading the blogs," she says. "I don't normally even read the comments because it seems to be a lot of the people who comment on blogs are -- maybe they're the kid who didn't get picked in dodgeball or something. It's what they sound like, so you have to kind of pick and choose."

So, before you comment, THINK about your dodgeball draft status. And act accordingly.

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It's hard to believe there has been 10 billion tweets
I understand what bandwidth is now, but is there any way to judge how much I need?
Realist: you have shown me the light! The government is watching me! Frankly, I didn't think that the neighbor living three doors down gave a shit about me, but now I know that the government does. You have shown me the light! In fact, I got a creepy feeling this morning when I was walking my dog because a cop car drove past. Slowly. You know - like he was under the speed limit. Bizarre. I felt I was being watched. When I was taking a shower this morning I washed my hair. But, I only lathered and rinsed. But, I did not repeat. Suddenly, the phone rang. Coincidence? I think not. I could not answer it in time, and no message was left. Thanks to you, I now know that it was the government. All of this because I use my real name when I post. I hereby swear that I will not answer the census. I will listen to Art Bell or George Noory every night. I will buy all of Alex Jones' DVDs. I will vote for Debra Medina and Ron Paul. I will also kick your ass in dodgeball.
Madame Mayor - You don't get it. Alot of commentors are just trying to get the real story out. Let's face it, the City of Houston with it's hired PR folks, does such an excellent job of spinning the facts so barely literate J.Q. Public thinks everything is peachy.
I am right there with you realist! And if you really believe all those Tweets are from The Mayor.......I got a bridge to sell you cheap. One of her minions is working the keyboards. Of course, it's not the first time as Parker had her legions of minions answering her emails when she was controller. Cicely may not be working in the Mayor's Office, but Madeline is.....
Yes, in a day and age where your comments on the internet are stored forever, manipulated by all, and used against you, it is really intelligent to use your real name. Go ahead, you oh-so-witty social media junkies. Chronicle your daily lives on the internet, tell us how you really feel. Make it really easy for our fair leaders to exactly profile who you are 20 years from now. And if they don't like who you are, maybe you'll get scooped up in the middle of the night and dragged out to some deep dark hole in the middle of nowhere. Morons. Best strategy is to do what the government does, be subversive and deny everything.
First, I commend Mayor Parker for this clever comment. I'm only envious I didn't use it myself. Second, Matthew Brown is a funny dude. I love that post. Third, Connelly, great post, particularly the last line. If every clown who anonymously posts on blogs had to sign their names, they'd likely cower in a corner and fail to hit send. I criticize Mayor Parker on my show, often, and I live with the consequences. Any fool can say mean, unfair, inaccurate things anonymously. It's sad to think they are proud of themselves when they do.
Mayor Parker, perhaps you ought to read the comments. In a <a href=http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/02/annise_parker_interview.php>recent interview</a> with this blog you made several misrepresentations. 1. <i>Ziggy's Montrose does not have "easy access to mass transit."</i> Metro's number 35 route stops directly in front of the restaurant on Fairview. The route runs frequently throughout the day. 2. <i>I'm very aware of where (Ziggy's Montrose) is and that they opened in the first place with three or four parking spaces.</i> As your aide clarified, not true. And in fact, the aide's clarification was not true either, according to the owner, who replied in the comments. He did continue to lease the parking lot, and the owner of the lot is in violation of the lease agreement. Why not just be honest about the true facts of the issue and say "We don't really care about your contract dispute, that's not our problem. Get some parking or we'll shut you down."? Or a better solution, ban street parking on streets where you don't want people parking around Ziggy's (as is already the case on Fairview). I'm sure the tow trucks wouldn't mind the extra business. Then let Ziggy's worry about whether or not they get enough foot traffic from the neighborhood to survive.
I agree with the mayor completely. It's the very reason why I use my real name when commenting. Then again, I used to dominate in dodgeball.