英國議員成微博控 年均用1千小時
Film stars do it, teenagers do it and now even MPs are falling head over heelsin love with Twitter.
電影明星“織圍脖”，青少年“織圍脖”，如今，英國衆多國會議員也成爲“推特控”。
They spend 1,000 hours a year chatting to constituents, friends and even complete strangers on the social networking site. In one week alone this summer, MPs tapped out nearly 2,500 ‘tweets’.
據統計，英國議員每年花費一千個小時和選民，朋友，甚至素不相識的陌生人通過“推特”社交網絡交流。僅在今夏的一週內，議員們就發出了近2500條“推文”。
According to new research, the politicians spend the equivalent of almost one day a week sending out the messages of no more than 140 characters. The survey by a political lobbying firm found that 275 out of 650 MPs are tweeting, including Labour leader Ed Miliband.
一條推特信息不超過140字符，但最新調查卻顯示，議員們每週上推特的時間相當於一整天。在受訪的650名國會議員中，有275人使用推特，包括工黨領袖埃德 米利班德。一家政治遊說公司開展了此項調查。
And research by The Mail on Sunday reveals that Mr Miliband’s party dominates the Twitter Top 10, which is made up of six Labour MPs, three Tories and just one Liberal Democrat.
《星期日郵報》開展的一項調查顯示，在推特排行榜前十名中，工黨議員以六席佔據多數，保守黨佔據三席，剩下一名是自由民主黨議員。
Topping the list are Bristol MP Kerry McCarthy and Glasgow South’s Tom Harris – who have both tweeted well over 20,000 times.
位居榜首的是布裏斯托爾的克里 麥卡錫議員和南格拉斯哥的湯姆 哈里斯議員，兩人都發了超過兩萬條推文。
Mr Harris, 47, said: ‘People like to know that MPs are human and have interests outside politics. I don’t just tweet about politics. I do it about family, TV, normal things like that.’
47歲的哈里斯先生說：“議員也是普通人，除了政治也關心別的，人們樂於去了解這些。我的推特不僅和政治有關，還涉及家庭生活、電視節目、和平常事。”
But Tory MP Brian Binley, a committed non-tweeter, said: ‘I just cannot see the point. I’ve never had a constituent come to me and say, “Why aren’t you blogging or tweeting?” ’
不過保守黨議員布萊恩 賓利就是反微博主義者。他說：“我覺得沒有意義。從來沒有一個選民走過來問我，‘你爲什麼不寫博客，不用推特啊？’”
At least Northampton MP Mr Binley, 69, has the backing of the Prime Minister on his aversion to Twitter.
69歲的議員賓利先生來自北安普頓，並不只有他一人厭惡推特。至少，英國首相卡梅倫也在他們這一陣營。
Two years ago, David Cameron famously made clear he was no fan when he unguardedlytold a radio station that ‘the trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – [is that] too many twits might make a tw*t’. He later apologised for his language.
兩年前，首相大衛 卡梅倫就宣稱他對推特毫不感興趣。他在接受一家電臺採訪時一不留神說漏了嘴：“推特的麻煩在於，發太多推文人會變傻，這也是它的即時性造成的。”之後他爲自己言語不當而道歉。
Westminster Public Affairs, which conducted the Twitter survey, said parliamentary tweeters fell into two camps – obsessives who tweeted all the time and ‘lurkers’ who only occasionally sent out a message.
威斯敏斯特公共事務部門開展的一項推特調查稱，使用推特的議員們分爲兩個陣營，不停發推文的“推特控”，和偶爾才發一條的“潛水軍”。
Last night, Olly Kendall, director of Westminster Public Affairs, said tweeting helped MPs ‘humanise’ themselves.
昨晚，威斯敏斯特公共事務部主任歐利 肯達爾稱，用推特使得議員們更有人情味。
‘Some of the unguarded momentsof honesty reveal a side to them that most people don’t usually see – humorous, self-deprecating and down-rightordinary.’
“一些不經意的真情流露，展示了他們通常不易被大衆看到的那一面：幽默風趣、善於自嘲以及普普通通。”
Mr Kendall added: ‘The savvyMPs use Twitter not just to propagate party spin but to engage in an honest and open dialogue and to let constituents get to know them as people as well as for their political views.’
肯達爾還說：“聰明的議員，不會僅僅利用推特來鼓吹自己的政見，而是會進行開誠佈公的對話，讓選民在瞭解他這個人的同時，也瞭解他的政治觀點。”
