Snyder administration plans big social media push

WKAR Public Media

Published November 23, 2010 at 6:09 PM EST

By AP

LANSING, MI –

Rick Snyder was a virtual unknown when he kicked off his run for governor in late 2009.

The former president of computer maker Gateway Inc. soon changed that through his use of Facebook and Twitter, gathering more than 35,000 Facebook fans.

Now, the Republican governor-elect wants to use those tools to reach Michigan citizens as he tries to reinvent the economically troubled state.

In turning to social media, Snyder is following a handful of other governors already active on the Internet such as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

Michigan Lt. Gov.-elect Brian Calley says social media is a way to connect people to information "they otherwise wouldn't just naturally come across" since they're likely to spend more time on Facebook than on the state government website.

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