A long, long time ago, in a Presidential administration far, far away (okay, about 7 months ago), social media was just another thing on the “Internets.”
But now we have a White House that understands through firsthand experience what a powerful tool Facebook is for building brand advocates. Nary a day goes by without a few missives from the Oval Office to its nearly 253,000 fans currently on the network. And now they’ve even added live video chat.
But President Obama isn’t the only government official who has wholeheartedly embraced Web 2.0.
His troops are now marching to the same beat. Wired.com reports that the Army has ordered its U.S. bases to stop blocking soldiers’ access to Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. The intent is to share the Army experience in a more authentic way, through the eyes of the soldiers, themselves.
And NASA, not to be lost in the web space, has recently launched something other than a shuttle or satellite. Concerned that Facebook may pose a security risk, but recognizing the need for some kind of online outlet for their employees to engage and collaborate with each other, it has introduced a secure social network of its own.
Not to be presumptuous, but can you imagine the State Department’s interest in the role of Twitter and Facebook in the organizing and reporting on of the unrest in Iran?
-Mark
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