More and more people in and around government are using the social media platform Twitter. Twitter allows users to create a community of interest and shared information via “tweets” of 140 characters or less. Government users have created a vibrant and active community using Twitter daily to talk to one another and share government best practices, ideas and news.
Until recently there was no central listing of government related Twitter addresses. So on November 20th my client BearingPoint launched GovTwit, and we’ve been blown away by the hugely positive reception: www.bearingpoint.com/GovTwit
When it launched less than three weeks ago the directory had approximately 150 listings, predominately from the Executive Branch and from the Hill. To date the directory has grown to almost 350, driven by user supplied additions and ongoing research into additional Twitter streams. There have been almost 100 comments to the directory posting, and our GovTwit Twitter stream has almost 300 followers.
The directory is a resource for anyone working in government, reporting on it or looking to get more engaged as a citizen. Currently the directory is broken out in the following manner:
- Agencies and Exec Branch
- The Hill
- State and Local
- Reporters and Publications
- Industry, Academia and Others
- International
The “traditional” media is taking notice:
- Federal Computer Week: http://tinyurl.com/55p4hf
- Washington Technology: http://tinyurl.com/55p4hf
- Government Technology: http://tinyurl.com/6zvtah
- Washington Examiner: http://tinyurl.com/5onnrh
- Washington Biz Journal: http://tinyurl.com/5v4hge
Soon BearingPoint may move GovTwit to its own online home — it launched as a post in the BearingPoint New Thinking blog. They are also looking at ways to add greater functionality to the listings, and retweeting the most interesting content via the GovTwit stream, creating a sort of “best of the best” channel. Right now it’s quite an investment of time just responding to every comment and adding new listings daily.
Whatever GovTwit morphs into, it’s a great example of a company jumping into social media in a manner that adds value and builds community. And for my agency Strategic Communications Group, it’s staying true to our goal of great work for great clients.
