There is an interesting trend happening in government social media circles… they are becoming less and less government and more and more social media. What am I talking about? It seems that social media giants and other private based tech companies are gobbling up government talent. According to the Washington Post Silicon Valley is becoming Washington DC West with as many tech savvy govies that are ditching their political duds for the golden coast.
Tech Firms Hiring White House Staffers
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
In the past year, Facebook hired Marne Levine, a former White House economic official, and is reportedly courting former West Wing spokesman Robert Gibbs. Google’s philanthropy arm snagged Jared Cohen, the State Department’s social media guru. Twitter hired former White House and State Department staffer Katie Stanton
The revolving door between the federal government and U.S. tech companies isn’t new. But the hires come as popular Internet applications from Google, Facebook and Apple attract special attention from lawmakers and regulators concerned about issues of privacy, competition, pricing and other aspects of the rapidly changing online economy.
The post article really moves into lobbying rules and things that fall into the FTC’s space but that’s not exactly where I want to take this. With opening day baseball right around the corner I think the more pressing question is has government become the minor leagues for the private sector? Is government just becoming a glorified internship that is sure to grab you a spot in the big time once you leave?
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