Yeah. Me Too.

Yes. I too am now on FaceBook. I don't know if it was social pressure, my normal curiosity, or simply inevitable; but there I am.

I appear to have joined at a time of rapid growth in the use of FaceBook. It may have something to do with the recent success of the Obama campaign on several social networks. Politicians and other community leaders are signing up to increase communications.

Even the Washington Post's technology editors have been sucked-in to the point where, if nothing else, they are mocking the latest meme making the FaceBook rounds: 25 Random Things About Me.

I see increased use of any communications tool generally as a good thing, but there are stresses that come with this upsurge. In Maryland, for example, access to FaceBook by state legislators has been blocked, according to another story on the Washington Post web site (Plug Pulled on Md. Legislature's Facebook, MySpace for Fear of Viruses). That has sparked some discontent among the legislators:

"It's like blocking cellphones," said Del. Saqib Ali (D-Montgomery), a software engineer, who uses his Facebook page to update constituents about legislation he is sponsoring -- and share cute pictures of his daughter.

FaceBook is also blocked Delaware's state government network. It is among a group of sites (including twitter, another useful tool) classified as "extreme social networking" sites by our IT folks. I understand their caution, but I do think these sites can be used as valuable communications tools between elected officials and their constituents, between state workers and the people they serve, and among professionals within governments.

Part of my experimentation with both twitter and FaceBook (done now on my off time, at home, or using non-state communications devices) has been to explore their use in meeting the goals of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), an organization of state-level GIS coordinators across the US for which I serve as Communications Committee Chair.

So I will continue to explore. And if FaceBook, or twitter, or any other communications tool that comes along, might be useful in my professional life, and is allowed by the IT barons, then I will try to find a way to use it to the advantage of the people I work for and with.

Blogging From a Government Perspective

A story in Federal Computer Week, GSA showcases agencies' blogs, takes a quick look at the growing use of blogging software by federal agencies.

Blogs have become increasingly popular among federal agencies as they try to bolster their online presence and become more user-friendly. Many of the blogs featured on GSA’s new Web site are hosted by senior agency executives and address some of the more pressing challenges the agency faces.

I think this is an important development. I'm in government, at the state level, and I see a real opportunity for government agencies to improve their communications with (not to or at) the public. I have bookmarked and plan to spend some time with a Guide to Blogging (for government types) from webcontent.gov, an on-line resource for government web managers from a group of federal cabinet agency web-masters.

There may be lessons there that we can apply at the state level.

The FCW site also points to a short list of federal blogs; I'm already reading the Library of Congress blog on that list (I'm a nerd-wonk, sue me). I think I'll also start tracking the Big Read Blog from the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Director.

The first post I found there had this promising opening line:

Bloggers are a gaggle of ignorant blowhards.