Amid power cuts, Goa Electricity Dept's handle has Twitter in splits

Amid a surge in power cuts in the state due to soaring summer temperatures, free-wheeling Twitter feed posted by the Goa Electricity Department's verified account has social media users in splits.

The Twitter account, @GoaElectricity, over the last few days when surging summer temperatures and sudden thunderstorms have caused regular interruptions in power supply, has been both disarming and candid when it comes to dealing with complaints about power outages.

When users complained about constant power cuts, the handle tweeted: "I also have no lights and would be anytime fadding (fading) aways from you all until supply restored and mobile and laptop charged (sic)."

"I am also a consumer like you, now out of office but only a dept person on twitter. No special service to me I go through the same route as you all to find better solutions and to pass it on if any (sic)," it also said.

When users suggested that the unusual nature of the account's Twitter feed indicates the account has been hacked, the handle said: "I do not think a hacker would work so late to loose his sleep & interact with you all in a pleasing way & providing correct info They hack to cause destruction of some kind. No hack here pls note."

The quirky responses, with regularly occurring spelling errors, has got Twitter users to suggest that the person handling the Twitter handle was human, a rare thing at a time when verified handles often tend to tweet clean, crisp and to-the-point comments.

"Nice to see a human side to the handle then. I usually keep notifications on for updates assuming this was some large team behind it like some other government supported pages/handles. Anyway, thanks for the constant updates," Fabiano R tweeted in response to the official handle's post.

"I love the way @GoaElectricity replies on @TwitterIndia about any complaints. It sounds very personal," Amit Kamat also said on Twitter.