#AskFS: Twitter Q&A with British Foreign Secretary @WilliamJHague

Monday, 10 March 2014

On February 26, the @TwitterDC office welcomed British Foreign Secretary (and avid Twitter user) William Hague (@WilliamJHague) on the final day of his diplomatic visit to Washington. Together with British Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Westmacott (@PeterWestmacott), Secretary Hague conducted a Twitter Q&A.

Prior to the Q&A, Secretary Hague documented his trip on Twitter, bringing followers along as he met with Secretary of State @JohnKerry to discuss foreign policy issues in the Middle East and Ukraine, and joint efforts to prevent and end sexual violence in conflict.

The Secretary used the final day of the trip to open up for questions on Twitter live from our D.C. office, giving plenty of lead time to take the best questions using his trademark hashtag: #AskFS.

He addressed a variety of topics ranging from general questions related to foreign aid spending and his role compared to Secretary@JohnKerry to more personal ones like his stance on Marmite.

Secretary Hague also wasn’t afraid to tackle difficult questions to set the record straight on tough issues, such as a Middle East peace plan and discussions with Iran.

Ambassador Westmacott also joined in the Q&A, enjoying some personal questions on British music and TV:

A Twitter Q&A is an excellent opportunity to reach and engage audiences from all around the world in real time.

In his #AskFS Q&A, Secretary Hague demonstrated his diplomatic skills as he used Twitter to connect with his followers and engage others through lively debate and conversation.

Do you know of other innovative uses of Twitter? Write to mediablog@twitter.com.