Using Social Networking to Interact with the Government

In today's time, nearly one third of online U.S. adults use digital tools, other than websites, to get information from government agencies or officials. Many of these tools have just recently been adopted by government agencies. Although, despite their popularity in today's mainstream culture, many people still get the information they need from traditional government websites. A recent survey showed that 13% of adult internet users follow a blog posted by a government official or agency, 15% of users signed up to receive email alerts from a government official or agency, and 15% watched a video on a government website or social network page. As far as demographics are concerned, government social media users look very similar to the internet population as a whole. There is, however, one statistic that stuck out in my mind. Government social media users tend to be more affluent and educated than the internet population at large. Compared with those that have only attended high school or are in college currently but haven't graduated, those with a college diploma are more likely to follow a government agency or official on a social networking site (22% of college graduates in the last 5 years). Are government social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) more convenient for people to receive government information than reading long articles on an agencie's webpage? Or do many people not take them seriously since social networking sites are supposed to be fun and light hearted?

Smith, Aaron. "Government Online." www.pewinternet.org. PewInternet, 27/04/2010. Web. 24 Feb 2012. <http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Government-Online/Part-Two/Engagement.asp&xgt;.

Anonymous Speaks Out

While technology has enabled communication efforts of the government in many aspects, we must also take a look at the downsides.  A new group of activists who title themselves Anonymous are using the internet as their basis for protest.  To convey their interest in promoting freedom of information, this unknown group of hackers breaks into various websites to “terrorize” them.  Several claims of Facebook and Twitter accounts being taken over by Anonymous have been made.  While this may seem to be nothing more than a mere nuisance, where do we draw the line? As recently as last week, Anonymous hacked into multiple government websites and replaced them with obscene videos supporting their protests.  These websites have been shut down until the security issues are located and resolved. It is generally assumed that a web address ending with “.gov” is safe and secure.  Can we be so certain that we won’t be personally affected by these seemly powerful activists?  This activity could result in much more than a disruption in social networking.