BURLINGTON, Vt. -
If you follow Gov. Peter Shumlin on Twitter, you should know the message rarely comes from the governor himself.
Reporter Susie Steimle: How much control would you say you have over the @GovPeterShumlin Twitter handle?
Gov. Peter Shumlin: Very little.
It isn't uncommon for politicians to have their lives, both on and offline, micromanaged by their staff.
"It's a great way for us to promote good things going on around the state or get them information about the governor's office and what it's up to," said Sue Allen, a special assistant to the governor.
Recent pictures posted by the governor's staff, however, had us asking questions.
Susie Steimle: Is there a problem with the fact that they've been tweeting pictures of you in different locations when you are in fact out of state?
Gov. Shumlin: They have never claimed I was at a location when they shared a photo. To suggest they did is a gross mischaracterization of what we do.
This past weekend for example, staffers tweeted a picture of the governor at the Tunbridge fair in 2011, saying the Tunbridge World's Fair is in full swing. Back in August his staff tweeted, "I posted this picture to Facebook," at the time the picture was posted, however, the governor was on vacation out of state.
"I think it would lead the audience to believe or mislead them to believe he is indeed where the picture shows him," said Nicole Ravlin, a social media expert.
Ravlin says Twitter is meant to be current. She says most Twitter users assume when pictures are posted they are relevant to the day and time that they appear online.
"The best practices state that you should be as transparent and as authentic as possible," Ravlin said.
The governor's office maintains they are as transparent as possible. They've posted a disclaimer at the top of the page stating if a tweet is initialed PS, it came from the governor, otherwise assume it came from his staff, even if it's written in first person.
"If you want to film fiction, film fiction. I'm telling you the facts. The facts are we do not send out misleading tweets," Shumlin said.
The governor's staff also says they schedule some tweets ahead of time and one of the tools they use to schedule those tweets automatically drafts messages in first person.
