After seven years, the citizen-led Twitter account @sweden has stopped tweeting. The project, called Curators of Sweden, was initiated by the Swedish Institute and allowed a different curator every week to present the country through a “mix of skills, experiences and opinions”. While some curators sparked controversy, the account attracted around 150,000 followers and inspired similar projects, such as @ireland. The Swedish Institute has now decided to move on from the project.
In October 2018, @sweden stopped tweeting. For seven years, the first official national Twitter account to be handed over to ordinary citizens – a different curator every week, 356 in all – had entertained and educated the world with a melange of Swedish messages. The idea was to present the country through a “mix of skills, experiences and opinions”. Curators were free to write whatever they wanted, as long as the tweets didn’t violate the law, promote a trademark, or pose a security threat. Hate speech and personal attacks were avoided by all.
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However, some of the curators have sparked controversy, such as those who trolled Denmark and Donald Trump.
The project, known as Curators of Sweden, was initiated by the Swedish Institute and has attracted around 150,000 Twitter followers. Ireland liked the idea so much that it followed suit with a similar citizen-led account: @ireland..
‘It was a groundbreaking initiative when it was launched,’ said Anna Rudels of the Swedish Institute, adding: ‘Every project has an end and it is time for us to move forward.’
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