Posts Tagged ‘@dalailama’

Last night the Dalai Lama took one giant leap into the internet age and joined Twitter (@DalaiLama). 24 hours later, his account has ballooned to 58,700+ followers, as Tweeters eagerly sought wisdom from His Holiness via SMS.

But does the Dalai Lama really need a Twitter account? Does it make sense for him to join? It’s too soon to tell if the Dalai Lama’s jump into the twitter fray will help extend the Dalai Lama brand…or help with his world peace effort.

So as news begin to pour in on any incremental updates on the Dalai Lama’s Twitter account and tweets, here are some potential hurdles to consider:

• People are expecting the voice of His Holiness to carry through in the tweets. Of course, it is unrealistic that the Dalai Lama himself would take the time to craft messages—nor should he. He has very important things to do. But his face is in the Twitter profile and his followers will want him to tweet.
• Following the Dalai Lama is like having a spiritual guru on speed dial. The Office of His Holiness will most likely be bombarded with DMs and @replies all wishing the Dalai Lama well, and potentially asking for “fortune cookie” tweets (140 characters of wisdom, advice, and prayer).
• The Dalai Lama is considered an “enemy rebel” to the Chinese government. And as stories of Chinese-based hacks on U.S companies flood in, it’s not hard to imagine Chinese hackers (or at least a pimple-faced computer whiz in the U.S.) attempt to shut down his twitter account.

With all these potential hurdles, does it make sense for the Dalai Lama to have a Twitter account? Is it practical?