Newsletters Welcome, Guest Log In | Register

Governance and Risk

From regulatory compliance to corporate governance structure, everyone is involved

About this Blogger RSS

Subscribe

Sign up now and get the best business technology insights direct to your inbox.

  • Daily Edge
  • CTO Edge Update
  • Business Tools & Templates
  • Aligning IT & Business Goals
  • Maximizing IT Investments

3

Twittering Government Agencies Are a Growing Trend

Posted by Lora Bentley Jul 28, 2009 12:25:50 PM

Interesting. The British government is encouraging its employees to use Twitter. ChannelWeb reports Neil Williams, head of corporate digital channels for Britain's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, wrote a 20-page strategy "template" for leveraging Twitter to build an audience and get government messages out. Williams admits 20 pages is probably "over the top," but he "was surprised by just how much there is to say -- and quite how worth saying it is."

 

According to the story, the strategy provides that "Twitter use should be limited to relevant issues or upcoming events... campaign messages and insights from ministries." Sending two to 10 tweets per day, plus replying to other tweets should take no more than an hour a day, and it will give citizens a window into the workings of government.

 

It sounds good on the surface, but is it possible to be too transparent? We've talked a bit about how Twitter could leave company execs liable for insider trading and other things, so what's to keep a government employee -- even inadvertently -- from revealing too much information, or the wrong information, or information that's not "final" for purposes of public consumption?

 

Tee Morris, whose book "All a Twitter," was released earlier this month, says government agencies are slowly getting on board with social media, and Twitter in particular. "More government agencies realize that this is the way to reach out to the community...[People] want information quick, and they want it delivered to them in small, digestable portions."

 

To further that goal, Morris told me he is currently working on a seminar called "Government 2.0: Declassified" in which he will discuss the challenges associated with social media in government circles. The two biggest ones are, first, that the higher-ups don't understand how the technology works, and second, that IT departments within the government don't want to support the use of social media. However, he says once they learn more about how it works and how it should be used, they'll understand that "it's not evil."

 

Morris points to the Library of Congress as one U.S. agency that is doing "great things" with the microblogging service.

Add a comment Leave a comment on this blog post.
Jul 28, 2009 10:56 PM Guest Steve Lunceford  says:

It should be noted that the UK Gov Twitter guide http://bit.ly/DC5OV joins similar efforts from HHS http://bit.ly/iMrVM) & USA.gov http://bit.ly/3bBCHV launched earlier in the month. And Tee Morris may be surprised at how fast govt. Twitter use has grown - with a 1,300% increase tracked over the past eight months: http://pitch.pe/18704 More than just the Library of Congress is making great use of the channel.

Aug 1, 2009 5:56 AM Guest 1234  says:

thanks for the post.

Aug 1, 2009 6:04 AM Guest ryan vines  says:

Its very essential for any government to reach out to its people. The British Government according to me is doing the right job by getting their opinion of its people through the web . And Twitter is a great site to go to .

Lowering Your IT Costs with Oracle Database 11g Release 2

This white paper identifies the key capabilities a database management solution needs to successfully deliver more information with higher quality of service, make more efficient use of IT budgets, and reduce the risk of change in data centers.

Software Forum: Information On Demand Virtual Experience

This interactive virtual forum presents leading IT experts providing the insights you need to turn your information into a strategic driver for innovation, business optimization and competitive differentiation.

Tablet PCs

Powerful and portable computing capacity for today's high-speed, fluid business environment.

Mobile Computing Optimization

Mobile computing solutions, tips, and expert commentary that increases the usability and bottom-line benefits of your mobile computing assets.

Business Intelligence

Best-practice tools, strategies and technologies for determining and managing the data you need to make better business decisions.

Enterprise Manager

Tools, best practices and expert advice on managing your enterprise IT infrastructure, databases, and Web service components.

Windows 7 Upgrade Project Kit

Moving to Windows 7? The Windows 7 Upgrade Project Kit is the ideal support tool for managing all phases of an organizational upgrade to Windows 7. The tools and templates in this kit will help you develop a strategy and map out the implementation tactics which link your Windows 7 deployment to your company's bottom line.

Learn more >

Social Media Policies Toolkit

Define the rules at your company for the proper use of social media platforms such as Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Ensure your users are spending their time productively and company resources are being used for the business.

Learn more >