Social Media

NOAA National Weather Service Meteorologist Twitter Use Shows that All Government Employees are Communicators

During the run up to a recent winter storm, Twitter was aflutter with reports of 20-30 inches of snow falling across wide swaths of the Midwest. Unfortunately for snow lovers, those rumors were highly speculative and unfounded. That didn’t stop members

Mike Kruger

Feb 26, 2014

When HHS’s Katie Gorscak was looking for a way to share Stopbullying.gov’s information with teenagers, she looked at her options on social media. New reports seem to come out regularly talking about how teens are fleeing “traditional” social media sites, but Gorscak knew her target audience

Jessica Milcetich

Feb 24, 2014

Lights, Camera, Action! 7 Tips to Run a Successful Video Challenge

Not sure how to craft a video challenge that will result in the creative solutions your agency is looking for? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Jason Crusan from NASA and Tammi Marcoullier from Challenge.gov joined a recent DigitalGov University webinar to share best practices and hurdles in running video competitions. We’ve recapped their advice and key

Karen Trebon

Feb 20, 2014

IRS Offers Updated ‘IRS2Go’ App

There’s no way to sugar-coat it. It’s that time again. Tax time. And just in (tax)time, the Internal Revenue Service has updated its handy IRS2Go Mobile App for iPhone/iTouch and Android phones. The 2014 version of the app offers a more elegant and streamlined visual experience — and a

Feb 20, 2014

State of the #SocialGov 2014

If the silos and barriers that separated our programs are smashed, what could we do to realize the full potential of innovation in public service? Whether you’re a citizen who needs better access to services, an entrepreneur looking to spark innovation in the marketplace, or a public servant who wants to get your mission done

Justin Herman

Feb 18, 2014

Engagement

It’s one of the most important words to a federal social media account manager and knowing who to talk to can sometimes make or break a communications campaign. The idea of making sure your social media accounts are reaching key constituents and members of

Dorothy Amatucci

Feb 14, 2014

Managing, Measuring and Archiving with Hootsuite

Federal workers need to know more in social media than just how to send a tweet. Among other things, you also need to manage multiple accounts across platforms and languages; measure and report performance; and archive posts and comments for the public record. We dispelled the notion that technology limits agencies from tackling these challenges

Justin Herman

Feb 10, 2014

Crowdhall, Tint Now Available for Federal Use

It’s been a busy few months negotiating Terms of Service on behalf of the federal government, and we’re happy to announce CrowdHall and Tint are now available and that the Tumblr agreement has been updated for the first time in almost 2 years.CrowdHall logo

Betsy Steele

Feb 05, 2014

Instameets Combine In-person and Digital Engagement

Federal agencies continue to look for better ways to combine the benefits of online engagement and in-person action — Instameets can achieve this strategic goal by using Instagram with meetups to amplify the vision of your mission. Katie Harbath,

Justin Herman

Jan 31, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: 65% of All Email Gets Opened First on a Mobile Device

While composing email on mobile phones is still a tricky feat, email reading is quickly shifting away from the desktop. According to data from the US Consumer Device Preference Report: Q4 2013 from Movable Ink, way more than half of all email — a full 65 percent — is now being accessed

Lisa Wilcox

Jan 28, 2014

Innovation Means More, Better, Cost Effective Digital Training

SocialGov Summits bring together agencies from across government to share and learn how we can improve digital services to make services more effective and cost efficient.

Justin Herman

Jan 28, 2014

On January 16th, the Federal Communicators Network gathered at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The topic of the day was Driving Employee Engagement through a Social Intranet, and Kelly Osborn, NARA’s community manager for the Internal Collaboration Network (ICN) was the expert speaker. Kelly has been the driving force behind the project from

Mary King

Jan 24, 2014

Extreme Makeover: GC News Release Edition

The Government of Canada (GC) is retiring the traditional news release format in favour of a more digital-friendly product that makes the key messages of announcements clearer, quick facts more accessible and integrates more effectively with social media channels. The old style

Communications Community Office, Government of Canada

Jan 23, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: 4th Qtr Online Mobile Traffic Up 40% Over Last Year

According to the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark report, overall 4th quarter online sales were up 10.3% year over year. Here were some of the key drivers: • Mobile Traffic and Sales: Mobile traffic soared, accounting for nearly 35 percent of all online traffic, up

Lisa Wilcox

Jan 21, 2014

FEMA App adds ‘Disaster Reporter’ feature

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is taking the well-known slogan, “See something, say something,” to the crowd. Consider it more “See something, submit something.” Harnessing the power of citizen intelligence to understand and respond to disasters, FEMA in late 2013 launched a new feature in

Jan 16, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: The Future of Mobile Data

This infographic from Light Reading addresses recent trends in mobile data use. We are struck by how much data was transferred via a WiFi connection vs. cellular. People are using WiFi connections way more than cellular ones. Some other quick highlights: In Q2

Lisa Wilcox

Jan 14, 2014

Updating Blog Comment Policies

The difference between only distributing an online press release and opening up the benefits from a blogging community can be found in how your agency encourages and manages comments and engagement. An easily-referenced comment policy lets authors and contributors know what your agency’s guidelines are in order

Justin Herman

Jan 10, 2014

It was a very good year, as Frank Sinatra sang, in the field of social media for the federal government. Advances were made not only in the technologies applied by agencies, but also the policies and strategies that unlock their potential to improve services and reduce costs. I’d like to share with you just some

Justin Herman

Jan 10, 2014

Best Week Ever in #SocialGov: December Edition

(This is the next installment of an ongoing series charting the programs, events and people that make the emerging field of social media and data in government an exciting place to serve the public. Agencies are encouraged to submit their own stories for this travelogue of digital innovation.) From

Justin Herman

Dec 20, 2013

News and Events on Social Media