N.Y.C. Candidates Fail at Twitter. Except One.

It's no secret that New York City politicians are embracing social media and working to carve out an online presence with networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, which have been especially popular with candidates for mayor, public advocate and city comptroller.

But today, the Daily News contends that most of them are getting it all wrong!

The News had digital-technology and social-networking expert Darrell West of the Brookings Institute evaluate the Twitter feeds of 11 city candidates. His conclusion: "Most of these people have not figured out how to use new digital tools for campaign purposes. They're viewing it as informal conversations as opposed to serious political communications, and they're wasting their time."

For instance, "Bill de Blasio just had a great workout. Eric Gioia's toddler has skinned her knee and David Yassky considers himself a 'superb' Four Square player." Then there's "Controller William Thompson's affection for Star Trek, Councilman Tony Avella's complaints about the rain," former public advocate (and currently P.A. candidate) Mark Green's "pretentious" recent tweet that quoted the Roman poet Juvenal (in Latin, no less!), and "mundane scheduling details about parades or fund-raisers" across the board. Way too may excessive personal details, accoring to Mr. West.

But there's one candidate who seems to be on the right track: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who "won top marks for sticking to policies, platforms and endorsements."

This could be because Mr. Bloomberg fancies himself something of a techie. Recently, as the mayoral election draws nearer, he's been pushing a number of new media initiatives, including a contest for building Web applications out of city data; a Twitter feed for the city's 311 information service (which as of yet seems most useful for letting you know that, yes, "Alternate Side Parking rules are in effect"); and, most recently, a comprehensive stimulus package designed to boost New York's digital sector.

Or it could be because Mr. Bloomberg has basically every political consultant in the city working for him, and not all of them have all that much to do. As the article notes, "his posts are done by staffers and don't pretend to be the mayor's musings."

NYFi's own Andrew Rasiej (also of Personal Democracy Forum) a onetime public advocate candidate and expert on the intersection of technology and politics, told the News that voters prefer the personal touch of a candidate who writes his own posts.

But Mr. Rasiej also gave the mayor top marks, commending him for not pretending to write his own tweets and for skillfully utilizing social networking sites.

"Twitter is an ecosystem that requires listening as much as talking," Mr. Rasiej said.