Sarah Palin's Secret Twitter Account Follows Drudge, Newt, Sarah Palin

Has the media overstated the former Alaska governor's mastery of social media?

It is possible that the three people Palin is taking advice from are Newt Gingrich, Matt Drudge, and herself? Just maybe.

Let's back up for a second: For a while there, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin seemed like a savvy social network user. With frequent updates and occasional malapropisms, Palin seemed to grasp the extent to which active and direct engagement of Facebook and Twitter would help capture and hold the attention of critics and supporters alike. But were reports of Palin's mastery of social media overblown?

Consider Wonkette's new apparent discovery that Palin, in addition to establishing a secret Facebook page for someone named Lou Sarah, has been accessing Twitter from the account @mckinely777. Why would a public figure create a shadow Twitter account? Presumably to keep tabs on people they'd get in trouble for following under their real name. @mckinely777 doesn't do that--instead, the account follows only three users: Palin, Newt Gingrich, and The Drudge Report.

Wonkette's Jack Stuef used Palin's personal Gmail address to find this out, the address being given in ex-aide Frank Bailey's leaked book proposal. This raises more questions about Palin's Internet aptitude. Stuef points out "Twitter will only let you see a contact's account...if she allows herself to be found by her e-mail address." When Stuef clicked on the button requesting that the user behind the address allow this, apparently the user did.

In other words, if all this checks out, Sarah Palin might not be the digital whiz she appears to be. And that's before we even get to the misspelling of "McKinley."