Metro Council candidate taking tweets to bigger, public screens

Published Aug 10, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Aug 10, 2012)

Over the past day or so, something new has popped up on a pair of electronic billboards on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard and Coursey Boulevard: tweets.

One message on Thursday evening bid Baton Rougeans goodnight and reminded them to lock their doors (an earlier tweet, after all, had observed them that "Crime in EBR the #1 problem"). Another tweet appearing today offers the city a good morning and asks motorists to remember to watch out for school zones.

The Tweets aren't overtly political in nature, though they are coming from Buddy Amoroso, who's vying for a Metro Council seat in this fall's election.

"This is just kind of an experiment, and I've kind of been keeping it under wraps because I don't really want everyone else jumping into it," says Amoroso, who is likely the first local candidate to incorporate live tweeting on billboards into his campaign.

He says representatives from Lamar Advertising Co. and The Day Group approached him about the idea. There are a few catches. Instead of the normal 140-character limit Twitter users have to use per tweet, Amoroso is restricted to about 100 characters because of space constraints on the billboards. And to ensure they'll be big enough to read from a passing vehicle, the Tweets probably should not exceed 60 characters.

While being limited to such succinctness doesn't really allow Amoroso to push a heavy political message on the billboards, it does give him valuable exposure. He says he'll continue to live tweet on the billboards through the end of the month, and perhaps longer if he gets a challenger.

With just a week left to qualify, Amoroso remains the lone candidate for the District 8 seat being vacated by the term-limited Mayor Pro Tem Mike Walker, who is challenging two-term incumbent Mayor Kip Holden.

You can check out Amoroso's Twitter feed here; and read a recent Business Report story by Adam Pearson on the role social media is playing in the local Metro Council and mayoral races here.