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MP addresses importance of Social Net in British politics and IT education

Following yesterday’s news that our Prime Minister David Cameron, his Deputy Nick Clegg and Labour Leader Ed Milliband have joined social net Google+, the Minister of State for University and Science has spoken out about the ‘crucial’ nature of social networking in today’s politics.

Speaking to fellow bloggers at Pocket-Lint, MP David Willetts took time to address both sides of the social coin, both its importance and also its frequent misuse and how they both effect the public view of our politicians.

“Some MPs use it a lot. The danger is that you end up with a running commentary or sometimes the rather less important part of what an MP does, but it’s up to an individual to decide. Certainly we know that we’ve all got to keep up with the ways that people communicate these days” says the MP for Havant, about the growing trend of political names on Twitter.

A sometime blog-writer himself, Willetts talks of the use of discretion when posting remarks on the social net while in an important role as Member of Parliament “My blog is me as a minister, so I can’t just put on what I think at any given moment. That would be terrible. Anything I say is potentially a statement of Government policy. It’s harder to do as a minister and that is a problem.”

“My blog is me as a minister, so I can’t just put on what I think at any given moment. That would be terrible. Anything I say is potentially a statement of Government policy. It’s harder to do as a minister and that is a problem.”

The Minister spoke on, about increases and improvements to the UK’s teaching of IT to students and backing the idea of bringing an “Apps for Good” program in our schools, for teaching of the importance and development of the app market for mobiles and social-based gadgets, these projects backed by top industry names such as Microsoft, BT and IBM.

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Source: Pocket-Lint