中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
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One of Tom Watson's latest tweets. Film stars do it, teenagers do it and now even MPs are falling head over heels in love with Twitter.(dailymail.co.uk) |
Click for more photos of the tweets of MPs
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Film stars do it, teenagers do it and now even MPs are falling head over heels in love with Twitter. They spend 1,000 hours a year chatting to constituents, friends and even complete strangers on the social networking site. In one week alone this summer, MPs tapped out nearly 2,500 ‘tweets’. According to new research, the politicians spend the equivalent of almost one day a week sending out the messages of no more than 140 characters. The survey by a political lobbying firm found that 275 out of 650 MPs are tweeting, including Labour leader Ed Miliband. And research by The Mail on Sunday reveals that Mr Miliband’s party dominates the Twitter Top 10, which is made up of six Labour MPs, three Tories and just one Liberal Democrat. Topping the list are Bristol MP Kerry McCarthy and Glasgow South’s Tom Harris – who have both tweeted well over 20,000 times. Mr Harris, 47, said: ‘People like to know that MPs are human and have interests outside politics. I don’t just tweet about politics. I do it about family, TV, normal things like that.’ But Tory MP Brian Binley, a committed non-tweeter, said: ‘I just cannot see the point. I’ve never had a constituent come to me and say, “Why aren’t you blogging or tweeting?” ’ At least Northampton MP Mr Binley, 69, has the backing of the Prime Minister on his aversion to Twitter. Two years ago, David Cameron famously made clear he was no fan when he unguardedly told a radio station that ‘the trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – [is that] too many twits might make a tw*t’. He later apologised for his language. Westminster Public Affairs, which conducted the Twitter survey, said parliamentary tweeters fell into two camps – obsessives who tweeted all the time and ‘lurkers’ who only occasionally sent out a message. Last night, Olly Kendall, director of Westminster Public Affairs, said tweeting helped MPs ‘humanise’ themselves. ‘Some of the unguarded moments of honesty reveal a side to them that most people don’t usually see – humorous, self-deprecating and down-right ordinary.’ Mr Kendall added: ‘The savvy MPs use Twitter not just to propagate party spin but to engage in an honest and open dialogue and to let constituents get to know them as people as well as for their political views.’ (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
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电影明星“织围脖”，青少年“织围脖”，如今，英国众多国会议员也成为“推特控”。 据统计，英国议员每年花费一千个小时和选民，朋友，甚至素不相识的陌生人通过“推特”社交网络交流。仅在今夏的一周内，议员们就发出了近2500条“推文”。 一条推特信息不超过140字符，但最新调查却显示，议员们每周上推特的时间相当于一整天。在受访的650名国会议员中，有275人使用推特，包括工党领袖埃德•米利班德。一家政治游说公司开展了此项调查。 《星期日邮报》开展的一项调查显示，在推特排行榜前十名中，工党议员以六席占据多数，保守党占据三席，剩下一名是自由民主党议员。 位居榜首的是布里斯托尔的克里•麦卡锡议员和南格拉斯哥的汤姆•哈里斯议员，两人都发了超过两万条推文。 47岁的哈里斯先生说：“议员也是普通人，除了政治也关心别的，人们乐于去了解这些。我的推特不仅和政治有关，还涉及家庭生活、电视节目、和平常事。” 不过保守党议员布莱恩•宾利就是反微博主义者。他说：“我觉得没有意义。从来没有一个选民走过来问我，‘你为什么不写博客，不用推特啊？’” 69岁的议员宾利先生来自北安普顿，并不只有他一人厌恶推特。至少，英国首相卡梅伦也在他们这一阵营。 两年前，首相大卫•卡梅伦就宣称他对推特毫不感兴趣。他在接受一家电台采访时一不留神说漏了嘴：“推特的麻烦在于，发太多推文人会变傻，这也是它的即时性造成的。”之后他为自己言语不当而道歉。 威斯敏斯特公共事务部门开展的一项推特调查称，使用推特的议员们分为两个阵营，不停发推文的“推特控”，和偶尔才发一条的“潜水军”。 昨晚，威斯敏斯特公共事务部主任欧利•肯达尔称，用推特使得议员们更有人情味。 “一些不经意的真情流露，展示了他们通常不易被大众看到的那一面：幽默风趣、善于自嘲以及普普通通。” 肯达尔还说：“聪明的议员，不会仅仅利用推特来鼓吹自己的政见，而是会进行开诚布公的对话，让选民在了解他这个人的同时，也了解他的政治观点。” 相关阅读 （中国日报网英语点津 实习生高美 编辑：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: head over heels: 完全地 constituent: a person who authorizes another to act in his or her behalf, as a voter in a district represented by an elected official.（选民，选举人） unguardedly: 不留神地，毫无防备 unguarded moments：失去警惕的时候 down-right: completely or thoroughly（彻底，完全） savvy: shrewdly informed; experienced and well-informed; canny（有见识的；懂实际知识的；通情达理的） |
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