It’s December and the new year is right around the corner so it’s only natural to get sentimental about things and reflect on the year that was. Here at GovLoop we are doing just that and also in typical GovLoop style we are doing it in list form. So with all that in mind after reading over the last year here are the Top 5 Federal Blogs of 2010.
5.) Veteran’s Affairs – VAantage Points: First off the layout on the page is laid out so cleanly all the way from the great banner image down to the bottom of the page. Minus the fact that the site is aesthetically pleasing it also has great content. Let’s face it taking care of vets is a pretty big deal and Alex Horton and Lauren Bailey do a great job of rolling out frequent and informational, interesting posts. Also I love that the blog actively advertises for guest bloggers on the main page and give them their own little feature spot.
4.) Dept. of Energy – Energy Empowers: The only reason this is 4 and not lower (that’s a good thing) is that it’s so well done it almost falls under the news site umbrella rather than the blog umbrella. Energy Empowers has it all starting with great content that is diversely spread out through tons of different media forms. Also they do cool posts that are relevant like test driving electric cars and greening up buildings. The video piece with the Director of Energy answering questions from the public is pretty clutch.
3.) Congressional Budget Office: Director’s Blog: Nothing too fancy here with white background dominated by text but when you have the knowledge and content Douglas W. Elmendorf has then you don’t need much else. Everyone wants to know how and why the government is spending their money and this guy knows it just about as well as anybody and blogs about it almost everyday…AWESOME.
2.) USAID – ImpactBlog – First off these guys blog their butts off with at least 2 or 3 posts everyday. Also another important factor working in favor of this blog is the uplifting nature of it’s stories and the people USAID is helping all over. another great thing about this blog is you get a global feel with stories from all over not just domestic stuff. The entries are normally intriguing and educational about world problems and how we can/are helping to solve them. On top of that the entries with video are almost as good as watching National Geographic… there’s some pretty cool stuff.
1.) NASA – NASA Blogs: No surprise here NASA is out of this world (terrible pun intended) with their blogging efforts. They have ton of blog and just about every single one is an interesting read. I know government does interesting things across the board but other agencies really can’t compete with blogging from space can they? Specifically in NASA CIO Linda Cureton’s blog is a must read. Also the mission blogs are chalk full of amazing posts and yes sometimes pictures.
I’m sorry, but the CBO blog is some seriously dry matter. And the VA blog doesn’t even get to any content w/out scrolling down the screen because the banner is so huge. Both of these blogs have information people should read, but can that really be a criterion for a top federal government blog–after all, why have an agency if there is no value to its content?
That you could make such a list w/out including the bad-ass Ray LaHood’s http://fastlane.dot.gov is just plain shortsighted. Show me one Cabinet Sec with as distinct a voice and tone and as bold a willingness to take on detractors and actually release news through his blog.
And the layout’s not too shabby either.
Am I biased? Who isn’t? But I wonder if you’ve even glanced at Technorati’s top Cabinet blog.