Inside Politics

Departmental Doppelganger Watch: Will the real Finance Canada please tweet up?

by Kady O'Malley Posted: February 24, 2010 1:32 PM Last Updated: February 24, 2010 4:56 PM
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Like every other Hill journalist tipped off via news release to Finance Canada's brave foray into the twitterverse, I was quick to add myself to the rapidly growing list of followers that the new account had already managed to accumulate. A few minutes later, I noticed that I'd picked up a new follower myself -- @FinanceCda. 

"Aw, isn't that adorable," I thought to myself. "The robot is feigning interest in what the rest of us have to say!" 

Except it wasn't the same account at all -- at least, not the one that was so blithely announced by the department earlier today, which operates under the @FinanceCanada moniker. To make matters even more confusing, the second account -- which claims to be the "official and verified" voice of Finance Canada -- is accusing @FinanceCanada of being an "imposter account", and is urging all and sundry to remove it from their list, an argument that would be somewhat more compelling if it didn't come so soon after the same unseen user suggested that we "STAY TUNED FOR SNEAK BUDGET PREVIEWS." 

Then again, if the Yes Men's adventures with Environment Canada are anything to go by, the faux Finance twitterfeed may turn out to be considerably more interesting than the real thing -- if it lasts until Budget Day, that is, which seems unlikely. Still, until the twitterpolice shut it down, it's probably worth keeping an eye on both, if only to see how much trouble the mystery account can cause an already overworked and overstressed finance department. 



Tags: finance canada, twitterwatch, which one has the best deficit reduction plan?