TO_CANADA is the only identity of one of Toronto’s top Twitterers. The account has 20,000-plus followers, 3,500-some updates, and not one clue as to who is running it.
Twitter is the perfect tool for masking an identity or motivation there’s no direct way of finding out who is who on the much-hyped microblogging service.
But if anyone – politician, marketer, whoever – has the ear of this many followers and doesn’t give a hint as to who they are in any other medium, questions arise. Namely, who the fuck are these people and why are they doing this?
The name in the profile reads, “Toronto Canada.” But the account is not affiliated with the city – the background image states “An Independent Source for News, Sports and Events.”
But as well as be a source for events, TO_CANADA is also a source of social and law-and-order conservatism. The account urges arrests of striking city workers who slashed tires, and will handout police numbers to call if anyone suspicious is hanging around High Park. Odd, isn’t it?
I suppose I could report the account to Twitter, as its name – the same name as the city – could be confusing and considered impersonation. But then this would just force the City of Toronto to get a verified account and leave TO_CANADA to operate with impunity.
I’ve had correspondence with TO_CANADA, and can verify it is not robot-operated. I’ve also asked who runs the account, obviously to no avail.
So here are a few guesses as to who could be behind this mysterious and mysteriously popular account:
Denzil Minnan-Wong, city councilor
Take what we do know about TO_CANADA: conservative, home-town proud, relentless. The same three descriptors could be applied to Minnan-Wong, perhaps Toronto’s most tech-savvy conservative councilor. Either way, TO_CANADA might be an effective way to campaign-by-proxy for Minnan-Wong or another conservative in the next election.
Tim Hudak, leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives
As mentioned above, what better way to skirt campaign rules than to use an anonymous Twitter account to smear opponents? Hudak, the leader of the provincial conservatives, has the motive and the manpower to operate this account to his favour for the next provincial election.
I’ve known Marc for some years, and have never seen him devoted to anything much as he is to Twitter. So, the theory goes, to fulfill all his Twitter fantasies, Weisblott ghostwrites the TO_CANADA account. This way, he gets to keep his reputation as the arbiter of snark while expressing his more earnest feelings about the city. Possible?
The staff at Queen Video on Bloor
These guys are always seem mad at me when I dispute late charges in their store. TO_CANADA gets mad at me too, though mainly because I swear on Twitter. Not much to go on there, I realise, but worth saying.
Tim Shore at BlogTO
With his successful blog and partnership with that new free daily, Tim Shore has become a fledgling media mogul in this city. Say he secretly builds up a Toronto-centric Twitter account for a few years, then steps out from behind the curtain to reveal himself as the mastermind behind it. Wouldn’t that just affirm his status as the next Conrad Black?
A group of crazy parents
This is the most likely of all these ridiculous theories: a group of “concerned parents” trying to get through to their teenage children in a way teens best understand, Twitter. Then, when the kids go away to university as fine, upstanding right-wingers, the parents then say, “You know, that TO_CANADA Twitter account that you and all your friends loved so much in high school…well that was your mom and I.”
Anyway… all the above were plainly speculation. And all the speculation can stop, if only the real TO_CANADA would kindly out him/her/themselves in the comments section.
