Web surfers make friends with Swiss ministers

January 3, swissinfo

Internet users can get virtually, albeit unofficially, closer to Switzerland's cabinet thanks to the social networking website Facebook.

An economics student from Neuchâtel in the western part of the country set up the seven ministers' profiles on the site, a move that has yet to draw a reaction from the government.

Bertil Suter is the man behind the Facebook coup. He created the profiles in December after considering the popularity of others already on the site such as Roger Federer's (although he admits he doesn't know if the tennis player is actually behind it.)

"There are no important Swiss political players on Facebook," he told swissinfo. "My action is a way of making this country's politics become more alive on the web."

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Image caption: The Swiss cabinet is in the process of being mobbed by its new virtual friends (Keystone)