This interview is an excerpt from our recent guide, Top Challenges & Solutions From State and Local Governments, which examines 16 case study examples transforming the way government safeguards information and technology. Teens and young adults are often accused of being addicted to their phones, but they are not alone: 90 percent of Americans own aRead… Read more »
If you’ve ever worked on a website project, you know one of the first questions a designer asks is: What are your favorite websites? But, it’s not always easy to come up with a list of the best websites. Great websites have to be memorable, modern, unique, and free of frustrating glitches—no small feat for mostRead… Read more »
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking about how federal agencies use social media platforms, and more specifically, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. There are a ton of other sites out there that speak to various groups of people or have particular uses. Because it’s important for government to reach its audience in theRead… Read more »
Back in March 2009, GSA signed an agreement with YouTube which would allow government agencies to post content to this site in compliance with federal terms and conditions. By 2012, every major federal agency had a YouTube channel, and some were even featuring content specifically created for the platform. Compared to the other platforms I’veRead… Read more »
There are far fewer agencies or departments on Instagram than on Facebook or Twitter. And that’s relatively logical if you consider that it is the far more visual platform of the three I’ve looked at so far. But what I love about Instagram is that you don’t have to have amazing pictures (like NASA orRead… Read more »
If you somehow haven’t heard of Yelp, it’s a website and app where anyone can review just about anything. People mostly seem to head to Yelp when they’re busting to share their glowing praise or their boiling rage. Now, as announced by DigitalGov, Yelp has a terms of service for official government use. Agencies can claim orRead… Read more »
Continuing my review of federal agency/department use of social media, this week I’m looking at Twitter (missed the Facebook review last week? Check it out here). After reviewing more than 100 Twitter feeds, I learned a lot. Some agencies tweet too much. I know a lot of that is personal preference, but I find itRead… Read more »
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr – these social media giants are just a few on a growing list of social networking platforms sprawling across the internet. Millions of people across the world use social media websites to connect, share and interact with others. According to a Pew report, 92 percent of teens in America todayRead… Read more »
Federal agency and department presence on social media varies widely—some have multiple accounts on various platforms while others have just a page or two that is updated infrequently. I wanted to find out what makes some sites more useful than others, so I set out to look at as many federal social media pages asRead… Read more »
So this is going to be the fifteen millionth article on the subject. But I don’t care, and you should read it. Because it will make you look like less of an asshole for the rest of your life. Isn’t that worth five minutes? Here goes: 1. DO NOT SEND MASS EMAILS EVER unless thereRead… Read more »