Danish Prime Minister jogs with Facebookers

by Rob Peters | April 18, 2008 at 09:21 pm | 400 views | add comment

In one fell swoop Facebook has helped the Danish Prime Minister win votes, fans, friends, and jogging partners. It's a publicity stunt, sure, but is there anything Facebook can't do?

Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has gone jogging with about 100 people he met through the social networking website Facebook.

The 7km (four-mile) jog took place on Friday at his summer residence, Marienborg, just north of Copenhagen.

One of his Danish Liberal Party aides, Soeren Lauridsen, said Mr Rasmussen was enthusiastic about Facebook as a way of connecting with ordinary Danes.

The PM is the site's 10th most popular person, Mr Lauridsen told the BBC.

"He has 12,000 supporters now on Facebook - he's only just behind [California Governor] Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he's the Europe Facebook champion," Mr Lauridsen said.

Mr Rasmussen organised the mass jog to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his leadership of the Danish Liberal Party - known as Venstre.

About 85% of Mr Rasmussen's Facebook friends are in the 18-34 age group, and "for him it's a way to reach a lot of people who are not specifically political", Mr Lauridsen added.