Social Government

An interview with USCG Lt. Cdr. Tony Russell, the press secretary to Commandant Thad Allen. Russell spoke about the Coast Guard Commandant’s office’s success with Social Media.

How should the government use Twitter?

The General Services Administration recently announced that many legal boundaries that once prevented federal agencies from using new media have now been resolved with several Web 2.0 sites, clearing the path for a more social government. The GSA said this was done to answer the President’s call for greater citizen involvement in government and in [...]

Yesterday’s White House town hall was really neat. President Obama seemed relaxed, and no economy-related question was off limits. He even answered a question about marijuana legalization: “I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow the economy.” People even submitted video comments! Does this remind you of the CNN/YouTube debates? Watch the full [...]

A look at the White House’s new “Open for Questions” feature.

I did a survey of how state governments are using new media to interact with their residents and to find out which state had the best program. I found that most usages fell into a few categories, listed below, and that the best was something quite unexpected. Traffic and Other Maps Maps have been perfected [...]

OMB Directory Peter Orszag now blogs. Why this is good for social media throughout the federal government.

The Department of Health and Human Services prominently placed a suggestion box on their PandemicFlu.gov Web site. So what? Many agencies do this in order to improve their Web sites. HHS took it to the next level. They posted the responses and have listed the improvements made directly because of user feedback. Of course, some [...]