Mayor Bloomberg Warns of the Pitfalls in Social Media

On Twitter, he is @MikeBloomberg, a popular online avatar with more than 230,000 followers. His official Foursquare account leaves tips about Shake Shack and Kennedy International Airport. And his Facebook page energetically promotes the programs and values of New York City Hall. But the actual Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg? When it comes to social media, he has a few concerns.

In a speech in Singapore, where he received a prize for urban sustainability, Mayor Bloomberg spoke about the difficulties of leading a city into the future amid a political culture that is often focused on the short term. The mayor noted that technology, despite its benefits, can add new pitfalls to an already grueling process. “Social media is going to make it even more difficult to make long-term investments” in cities, Mayor Bloomberg said. “We are basically having a referendum on every single thing that we do every day,” he said. “And it’s very hard for people to stand up to that and say, ‘No, no, this is what we’re going to do,’ when there’s constant criticism, and an election process that you have to look forward to and face periodically.”