Michael Field: Twittering Fiji's coup

by Michael Field

The first big dividend has come to the people of Fiji thanks to their $1 million donation to Washington ’s black art spin masters Qorvis…

Yes, for all that money, which might have been wasted on schools or hospitals, military, military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama and side-kick Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum are now in Twitter space.

And here is a neat thing; Twitter is very democratic and it lets anybody see not only how many both men have – but also who they are and who they are watching.

In the race for victory Bainimarama, who claims to be @FijiPM  has 71 followers and he is following 21 people.

Aiyaz, touting himself as @FijiAG has sent out more tweets, but only has 47 followers and follows 20 people.

I’ve listed all the followers and who is being followed, as of December 18, 2011, at the bottom.

Bainimarama’s first target to follow was Aiyaz – you would, wouldn’t you?

Next up is Alec Ross, an innovation advisor for the US Secretary of State, followed by Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

His forth target is Fiji Rugby – they had such a great success at RWC he is no doubt following that.

Bainimarama is also following the UN, the US State Department and the Google Travel Team. It has also clicked the Follow button on the White House, World Wildlife Fund, the British Commonwealth Office and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

In a romantic moment, he is also following the British Monarchy.

Bainimarama followers include Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard – or some one purporting to be her.

Then there is Juris Gulbis, apparently the ambassador to Abkhazia in the Asia Pacific region. 

That will be to do with this story on the site.

A number of journalists – including this one – are followers, as is one Amit Chand who says he is CEO for Defence Logistics and “senior vice president” for Nadroga Soccer Association. 

Right. One Jay Veena Inoca says on her listing “Google me, you’ll find nothing.” That just changed.

Aiyaz has no interesting followers – other than Bainimarama and Gillard.

What is intriguing though is how the two men have set up their accounts for people to follow.

They obviously did not; it Qorvis has pre-selected that the two men are to follow.

But, there is one marvellous difference – just One.

Bainimarama follows Aiyaz and it was his first choice – Aiyaz does not follow Bainimarama.

Wonder why?

Followers of Bainimarama:

mshameer48 Mohammed Shameer

teca58 teca

TuisabetoF Tuisabeto Filipe

CristianoTazmal Mohammed Tajmal

jayveenainoca Jay Vee En

KarynFiji Karyn Blenkiron

patrishachand patrisha chand

motuhawarrior Lea Lani Kauvaka

libertyofba Navi Bola

educationmatter educationmatter

bhavinm Bhavin Marvadi

faraazbaitul Faraaz Baitul Khan

IslesOfSmiles Hosanna Kabakoro

namasaubafiji Anil Krishna

uchandra99 Umesh Chandra

alpenb aldo penbrook

Whaleoil Whaleoil

PremCharan1 Prem Charan

sanjeshnis Sanjeshni

RNasiko repeka nasiko

Kate_Arnott Kate Arnott

rakshays rakshay singh

paradigmwastrel Neil Ashdown

hawleyrose Amanda Rose

meganjwhelan Megan Whelan

fijibook FijiBook

nottiboyee Rahul Singh 

ShafeelAhmed Shafeel Ahmed

JoytikaS Joytika Singh

raj_jagendra Raj

gurusan1 Peter Sullivan

lsharmafiji lolesh sharma

amitchnd Amit Chand

AndhyBlake Andhy Blake

kclose85 Kirstie Close 

Loxzsen Loraaaaa...

CarolATaylor1 Carol A Taylor 

FijiRepublic  Republic of Fiji

mereanigonedua mereani gonedua

KenKatafono Kenneth Katafono 

SOWANI1 SOWANI

Jeexji Sanjeet Prasad

opfdn Operation Foundation

fijdog F1J1

shavdon Shav Neel Don

ArehWah Areh Wah 

vinchetty Vin Chetty

Alifereti Alifereti

natlmac Natalie Macgregor

shanehussein Shane Hussein 

Velaerma Velaerma Uerdauv

tqarau Telu Qarau 

ferozkhalil Feroz Khalil

LadySekoula Emele Vakatora

FjBlackOrchid Mich Wilson

SadhnaChand Sadhna

LouisMcGoon Louis McGoon

Shaunzak Shaun Kumar

keljnr Kelvin Anthony

LitiaLa Litia La

rubberwilly Debbie Raiwalui

VijayNarayan4 Vijay Narayan

dtabureguci Dionisia Tabureguci

leansalt Lean Salt

JuliaGillard Julia Gillard 

JoePfeiff Joe Pfeiff

AnnemarieCoach Annemarie Cross

jgulbis Juris Gulbis

MonsterGrowl Green Monster

kevs4jc Kevs Tavainavesi

mjfield mjfield 

chapel8 chapel at eight

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum followers:

trees4fijians Jale O. Baba

DeaShandera Dea Shandera

bhavinm Bhavin Marvadi

faraazbaitul Faraaz Baitul Khan

IslesOfSmiles Hosanna Kabakoro

namasaubafiji Anil Krishna

uchandra99 Umesh Chandra

sanjeshnis Sanjeshni

paradigmwastrel Neil Ashdown

S_R_Productions Spirit Rising Prod.

RNasiko repeka nasiko

Kate_Arnott Kate Arnott

rakshays rakshay singh

fijibook FijiBook

nottiboyee Rahul Singh 

RichardRounds Richard Rounds

ShafeelAhmed Shafeel Ahmed

AndhyBlake Andhy Blake

gurusan1 Peter Sullivan

lsharmafiji lolesh sharma

Lovemel9 Zeba ali 

meganjwhelan Megan Whelan

mohitkapadia Mohit Kapadia

FijiRepublic Republic of Fiji

FijiPM CDRE JV Bainimarama

mereanigonedua mereani gonedua

kerberusfiji Ben Ralogaivau

shavdon Shav Neel Don

vinchetty Vin Chetty

BruceHillMelb Bruce Hill 

RAPacificBeat RA Pacific Beat

Alifereti Alifereti

FijiGovernment Fiji Government

natlmac Natalie Macgregor

Geropb Geraldine Coutts

ferozkhalil Feroz Khalil

mjfield mjfield 

VijayNarayan4 Vijay Narayan

SterlingGate Sterling Gate Books

go_fiji_go Brenda Ragi

AnnemarieCoach Annemarie Cross

plutarch88 biri kuruvoli

MonsterGrowl Green Monster

chapel8 chapel at eight

shanehussein Shane Hussein 

JuliaGillard Julia Gillard 

USRealityCheck US Reality Check

18 December 2011