Sydney's first ever Media140 conference, held at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) studios, drew around 300 academics, journalists and media enthusiasts to discuss the benefits and risks that professionals face in using open social networks, such as Twitter.
The keynote speech on the first day was delivered by ABC managing director Mark Scott, who announced the broadcaster's new policy for staff who use Twitter. The ABC endorses staff use of Twitter, but it doesn't want them to mix professional and personal communications in ways likely to bring the ABC into disrepute.
Twitter user and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull later admitted he uses ghost-writers on occasion to post tweets and that he does not declare when he does it. He advised listeners to focus "on the message, not the medium", and said he saw Twitter more as a publishing tool to get his political message out than a platform for conversations with constituents.
Following his speech, ZDNet.com.au asked delegates what they thought of Turnbull's use of ghost-Twitterers. Most were not surprised, but some said that not declaring the source of the tweet was ethically questionable. Afterwards Turnbull announced he would mark tweets actually written by him with "MT". Keep an eye out on ZDNet.com.au for the video Vox-pop response to Turnbull's tweeting.
Fairfax Digital editor-in-chief Mike van Niekerk said Twitter was "highly over-rated at the moment", and was not as useful as one might think because it can be "a huge echo chamber".
