In light of this week being the one year anniversary of the Open Government Directive, I wanted to highlight one of my favorite uses of social media in government.
I’ve touched on the White House’s open government efforts in a previous post of mine, but I wanted to give some praise to “First Question,” a Youtube series presented by WH Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs.
I follow Gibbs on Twitter in order to hear about the latest WH news. I feel as if I’m getting the inside scoop on the President’s whereabouts as well as official White House news directly from the Oval Office.
I recently discovered Gibbs’ “First Question” series. To put it simply: Followers tweet question, he answers. Each week, the Press Secretary sends out a tweet notifying his followers that he is accepting questions for the series. Later in the day, he picks several questions and answers them straight from the White House on Youtube.
Questions range from “What’s you reaction to the WikiLeaks revelations?” to “How’s the President’s Lip?” (referring to an unfortunate basketball accident from a few weeks ago) From serious to lighthearted, Gibbs thoroughly answers the questions and directly addresses the follower who asks them.
I enjoy this series because it allows the public to have somewhat of a direct relationship with one of the ultimate White House insiders.
Talk about transparency!
Check out this First Question post below. Note that I have chosen this video not only because is it a great representation of the types of questions Gibbs is asked, but his last answer truly pulls at my Auburn Tiger heartstrings. He even completes the video with a War Eagle (Auburn Battle Cry/Tradition).