Global leaders set up accounts on Snapchat to reach out to future leaders: Report

In recent times, Snapchat might be the fastest growing social media platform which is also said to have almost two thirds of its users aged between 13 and 24 years old. After the younger audience, government leaders are starting to set up accounts on the platform to reach out to future leaders. According to Burson-Marsteller’s research, 16 heads of state and international organisations have set up official profiles on Snapchat. The team identified four presidents, three governments, two foreign ministries and one foreign minister who are active on the platform, as well as six international organisations, namely the European Council (EUCouncil), the French government (GouvernmentFR) and French President François HollandeFR, Argentinian President MauricioMacri, the Irish government (MerrionStreet) and Irish President Michael Higgins (PresidentIRL), the US StateDept, the UKForeignOffice, and the WhiteHouse. The report points out that currently, there is no publicly available list of government Snapchat users. If the organisation is not in the contacts, one will have to know the Snapchat handle or scan its ‘snapcode’ if it has advertised its handle on other social media sites or embedded a link on its website. Some governments, such as the Polish Prime Minister (PremierRP), seem to have reserved their Snapchat handles but are not active. International organisations, particularly UNICEF and the European Parliament, use Snapchat to engage with their followers, often reposting their snaps. The UK Foreign Office reports an engagement rate of more than 60 percent and a 90 percent completion rate of its stories.  The UKForeignOffice was the first foreign office to open a Snapchat account, on September 17 last year, for the Rugby World Cup launch party and ahead of the annual Foreign Office Open House, points out the report. The Foreign Office also designed a virtual tour on Snapchat and asked Snapchatters on site to contribute their posts to the story. According to the Foreign Office blog, 300 new connections were made on Snapchat over that weekend. On the other hand, the WhiteHouse started its Snapchat journey this year, on January 11, to give its followers a behind-the-scenes look at the US President’s final State of the Union address. In March, the White House interns took over the account and created a story about their work to attract younger talent. In April, the European Parliament ran a similar story promoting traineeships in Brussels. Argentinian President (MauricioMacri) started his Snapchat communication during the visit of US President Barack Obama to Buenos Aires on March 23. The presidential Snapchat story started with the decoration and security measures, all the way through to the official state dinner in the evening. Snapchat even published a public story titled ‘Obama Visits Argentina’ which any users could add their snaps to. The White House contributed several snaps including a picture of ‘the Beast on the move’ in Buenos Aires, referring to Barack Obama’s armoured car and a picture of the Casa Rosada, Argentina’s pink equivalent to the White House. Lastly, Iceland’s Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson (GBSveinsson) became the first Foreign Minister to use Snapchat during his visit to India in April this year, where the team posted pictures of his official meetings as well.