The Facebook page of the premier of the Russian government has reached the landmark of 1 million ‘likes.’ Dmitry Medvedev said the result is due to Russians’ genuine interest in the work of their government.
“Thanks to everyone who takes interest in the work of the
government. Your opinion is very important to me and my
team,” Prime Minister Medvedev wrote in a recent Facebook
post.
In a short video address the PM posted on his Facebook — with one
million ‘likes’ shown as the background — Medvedev said it is
important the government maintain a presence on social networks.
During his presidency, Medvedev pioneered the idea of “Internet
government” as a way of encouraging “true democracy” in Russia.
“We can get a quick response to any of our decisions or
actions — and we actually do receive it. We can listen to your
remarks and wishes, discuss something. We always tried to do it
that way, but with the social networks in place it has become
much easier — and also more difficult, because comments are so
numerous,” Medvedev said.
“I do personally check out your comments and try to reply to
some of them — when I have time. So please do write [to us],
speak out, share your observations: we’ve got to help each other
to keep the track of events,” he added.
Medvedev is known for his love of gadgets and new media: He
maintains accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and also on both of
Russia’s biggest social networks, VKontakte (‘in contact’) and
Odnoklassniki (‘classmates’).
In October 2012, Medvedev welcomed Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg to his governmental residence in Gorki near Moscow.
The American guest presented Medvedev with a white t-shirt
emblazoned with the address of Medvedev’s Facebook page.
The Russian PM — and former president — has still some way to go:
the Facebook page of US President Barack Obama boasts more than
35 million likes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has never expressed a particular
interest in social networks, though there are other politicians
in Moscow working to forge closer ties with the electorate
through the web.
This article originally appeared on: RT