Councillors rebuked for Twittering during meeting

I suspect we will be getting more of these sorts of stories. Cllr Peter Black, a Lib Dem councillor in Swansea has been rebuked for using Twitter during a Council meeting. However he was supported by Cllr Rene Kinzett, a Conservative councillor and fellow Twitter.

Councillors were told to switch off mobile phones. But Cllr Black says tweeting could not be disruptive to Council proceedings as posts could be only 140 characters long. What very Lib Dem logic.

With Twitter there is a different argument to blogging. You could blog after a meeting with a report of what was said. the whole point of Twitter is to be immediate. This is a mechanism for making more people aware of the proceedings.

But if I was a mayor I wouldn't allow Twittering during council meetings. Not just because the practice is discourteous to the councillor speaking at the time (who may indeed be saying something boring, irrelevant or inconsequential) but, more importantly, because it shows contempt for the office, for the process itself.