Evanston announced Thursday the creation of a second Twitter handle to better inform residents, just in time for Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl’s State of the City Address on Friday.

“We have a very high follower-to-resident ratio compared to other local government agencies,” Evanston digital services coordinator Luke Stowe said in an email. “Twitter is popular in Evanston, and we enjoy interacting with our residents via social media.”

Stowe told The Daily in an email that city manager Wally Bobkiewicz, who uses Twitter frequently, brought the idea for another account to the Community Engagement team, who supported the idea. Stowe explained the focus of the second account was to share live and immediate updates.

The account, @CityofEvanston2, will live-tweet the Mayor’s State of the City Address on Friday, which Tisdahl will give at the Hilton Orrington, 1710 Orrington Ave.

The city began using social media in 2009. It currently has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter, with more than 5,000 likes on Facebook and more than 5,000 followers on Twitter.

“The Community Engagement team spends a portion of our time updating our various social channels including Twitter,” Stowe said in an email. “A large amount of our residents’ attention and time has shifted to digital, and we have made corresponding adjustments.”

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