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Found this by accident searching for a reason why there was a helicopter buzzing right over 853 Towers while I was trying to get some (gasp!) work done… Greenwich Council has gained a Twitter feed. Slightly odd username, though – @greenwich01.

Unfortunately, as I type, it doesn’t seem to be following any local residents – only the Today programme, three local government publications and the Cabinet Office. I may have stumbled upon it a bit early, because as far as I can tell I was the first local to start following it (unless this spammer has switched from Greenwich, Connecticut).

It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out – Lewisham Council’s been there for a while, and the brains behind it, Helen Hilton, often responds to locals’ enquiries. Southwark Council has a feed which is a little more one-way, but it was used to disseminate news in the wake of the recent fire tragedy in Camberwell. But it’s Lambeth that’s used the technology to most eye-catching effect, with Twittering mayor Christopher Wellbelove keeping people up to date on where their chains of office have got to.

Will Greenwich use Twitter to listen and learn? Or will it just use the feed to spout off nonsense, and miss out on a valuable chance to communicate with its people? We’ll have to wait and see.

Oh, and the helicopter? I got an answer, too…

See, Twitter does have its uses.