SEC Starts Tweeting In Effort To Revamp Image and Increase Transparency

S.E.C. chief Mary Schapiro is expanding the regulator's presence on Twitter in an effort to boost its transparency and update its image, the Los Angeles Times reported.The S.E.C. now has three feeds on Twitter: SEC Investor Ed ; SEC News ; and SEC Jobs.

The S.E.C.'s move to Twitter is part of a bid to repair the agency's staid and unwieldy image.

The watchdog recently took a severe and prominent battering in the Bernard Madoff fraud case, which agents failed to stop despite the best efforts of whistleblower Harry Markopoulos.

Public court hearings further highlighted the agency's shortcomings.

(NB. Could a bid to change some of the more jaded staff at the SEC's be behind the agency's new recruitment drive on twitter, via SEC Jobs?) "In real ways, the S.E.C. has not been where investors most need it," Schapiro told the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in Denver, according to the LA Times. "I've let it be known far and wide that things must change."

Twitter's popularity has been skyrocketing in the last few months. According to Compete, a Web analytics firm, the microblogging service had 14 million unique visitors in March, up from eight million in February.

WS&T has its own hefty presence on Twitter: You can receive WS&T's news feed via Twitter: (wallstreettech) and also follow the editors: Melanie Rodier (mrodier), Greg MacSweeney (gmacsweeney), Penny Crosman (pennycrosman) and Ivy Schmerken (ischmerken).The watchdog recently took a severe and prominent battering in the Bernard Madoff fraud case, which agents failed to stop despite the best efforts of whistleblower Harry Markopoulos. Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio