The American Prospect’s Phoebe Connelly looks at federal agencies beginning to use online communications tools:

The problems government agencies face as they start using social media are the same issues faced by any organization that wants a significant online presence: dealing with comments, coming up with content, and striking the right tone. FEMA’s Jodi Cramer described the agency’s comment policy without missing a beat: “If people say, ‘FEMA, you suck,’ we’ll post it. If they say, ‘FEMA, you f—ing suck,’ we won’t.”

By design, social-media tools promote interaction between citizens and the often byzantine world of federal agencies. When the TSA launched its blog in January 2008, it received more than 2,000 com- ments in the first three days. “Kudos to TSA for starting off on the right (albeit a shoe- and bootie-less) foot,” wrote Wired magazine of the site, creatively named The TSA Blog. “Passengers were finally able to vent to the TSA — they aren’t really comfortable doing it at a checkpoint,” said Curtis “Blogger Bob” Burns, who helms the blog.

It’s easy to assume that staid bureaucrats would be the last people to adopt to and excel at blogging or twittering. The “twittering bureaucrat” sounds like a throwaway anti-government punchline. But I think that these often low-key mediums can be a vehicle for government agencies to accessibly explain what they do for the public.

Online communications is a great way for civil servants to explain what their jobs are. Close followers of the news have some idea what military personnel or even some Justice Dept. lawyers do. But most federal agencies often make the news only when disaster strikes (FEMA during Hurricane Katrina, the Consumer Product Safety Commission during the lead-tainted toy scare).  Is there a big demand out there for a CPSC inspector to twitter about their life? No, there’s not, but it creates a public record for the small class of people who want to know like journalists. If done right, online communications should provide a more three-dimensional view of federal agencies and humanize the bureaucracy.

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