Social Media In The Government- Click here http://bit.ly/mZA4zX for full article

Social Media In The Government- Click here http://bit.ly/mZA4zX for full article

Even politicians who don't know what Twitter is have a presence online, though their staff members might take care of updating Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts for them. The reality is that government officials around the world are increasingly turning to social media to connect to constituents and sell messages to the masses, though the strategy's efficiency is certainly debatable.

New Avenues of Information

There are plenty of social media outlets for politicians to use, but the two most popular choices by far are Twitter and Facebook. Twitters allows senators, representatives, and even the President to update constituents practically in real time. Twitter's importance is recognized to the point that a Twitter Q&A session was recently conducted with President Obama.

Facebook is used more like traditional government websites. Updated less regularly, Facebook accounts feature press releases and bigger pieces of news. Politicians on Facebook also often screen content and feedback to align with their own views.

Effectiveness

The whole point with social media and government is to make government more transparent and open to the public. It certainly succeeds in that capacity by letting average citizens voice their opinions, but that doesn't mean their voices are necessarily heard.

Also, there are some people who believe that government does not need to be more open. After all, James Madison once wrote of the "ruling class" and warned against popular opinion holding too much sway in U.S. politics, one of the arguments for 6-year senatorial terms.

Security Concerns

A big selling point for the U.S. Congress website is that it is maintained on government-owned computers and has that layer of security simply because it doesn't exist on a private server. That doesn't mean .gov websites are totally secure - there are many reports over the past few years to the contrary. However, the insular nature of government networks does provide a bit more protection against rogue hackers attempting to create mischief or worse.

In June 2011, Representative Bill Johnson's twitter account was compromised, and an unknown third party began posting inappropriate content, including a nude photo meant to represent the Congressman. While Bill Johnson's story is still the exception, it does highlight some of the risks inherent to opening up government to the Internet, especially social media.

It was a story used by Representative Anthony Weiner to explain his scandal even though it was proven false by his changed testimony a week later. Because such a scenario is very plausible, he was given a hefty benefit of the doubt.

Social media is changing how the government connects to people. While ordinary citizens are still largely cut out from the inner workings in Washington, it's a small victory in the fight to make government more transparent.