for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

NFT: Go home EPA, you're drunk...Twitter edition

RC02XX : 7/22/2014 12:46 pm
I know BBI has a huge contingent of "get off my lawn" types, who think that social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) is lame and isn't for them. While I don't consider myself part of that group (like most, I have a Facebook account), I do have to say that government agencies (both federal and state) should be a bit more careful when they set up official social media accounts.

I've seen Twitter accounts maintained by various military units getting into ridiculous "tweet fight" with suspected terrorist organization Twitter accounts, and it wasn't pretty. And the social media accounts set up by the CIA has been a huge source of embarrassment.

Latest is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tweeting out Kim Kardashian-related tweet. Not sure if whoever is the social media manager at the EPA forgot that they were signed onto the official EPA account when they started playing the Kardashian game or if someone is just that brain dead. But it's definitely a face-palm kind of a mistake.



Quote:
An errant Kim Kardashian-related tweet from the EPA's Office of Water earned some Official U.S. Government Agency Attention on Tuesday morning.

"I'm now a C-List celebrity in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Come join me and become famous too by playing on iPhone!” said the initial Monday-night tweet, which included a link to the crazy-successful game app that launched in June with the reality-TV diva's endorsement.

The curious tweet stayed live for about three hours and had Twitter abuzz for hours.

"Whoops…our bad. Sorry about tweet. Upside - more attention for the Office of Water (http://water.epa.gov ), thanks @KimKardashian," the Evironmental Protection Agency branch wrote Tuesday morning.

See: Even when she's not directly involved, Kardashian has a way of shining a spotlight on things. Including things as unglamorous as a faceless organization "working for clean water for all Americans."

Go home EPA! - ( New Window )
As Instapundit says  
buford : 7/22/2014 12:54 pm : link
'We're in the very best of hands'.
Our water is a C-list celebrity?  
Anakim : 7/22/2014 12:56 pm : link
So our water is like who? Carrie Fisher?
RE: Our water is a C-list celebrity?  
Ten Ton Hammer : 7/22/2014 3:03 pm : link
In comment 11776234 Anakim said:
Quote:
So our water is like who? Carrie Fisher?


David Spade.
An unpaid intern monitoring a Twitter account makes a goof  
Kyle : 7/22/2014 3:12 pm : link
Big news.
It's appropriate imho  
gidiefor : Mod : 7/22/2014 3:13 pm : link
isn't Kim an endangered species?
RE: An unpaid intern monitoring a Twitter account makes a goof  
RC02XX : 7/22/2014 3:16 pm : link
In comment 11776650 Kyle said:
Quote:
Big news.


Yep...thanks for missing the point.
..  
Kyle : 7/22/2014 3:26 pm : link
Didn't miss the point (do you think it was hard to miss?), just didn't find this to be an example of anything more than what I wrote.

Organizations getting into pissing contests or actively writing embarassing statements is worlds different from some intern forgetting to log out of the EPA Twitter account on their phone and hitting the Share button in a mobile game.

One is "be careful... log out"

One is "be careful... don't say immensely stupid or embarrassing shit"
RE: ..  
RC02XX : 7/22/2014 4:16 pm : link
In comment 11776690 Kyle said:
Quote:
Didn't miss the point (do you think it was hard to miss?), just didn't find this to be an example of anything more than what I wrote.

Organizations getting into pissing contests or actively writing embarassing statements is worlds different from some intern forgetting to log out of the EPA Twitter account on their phone and hitting the Share button in a mobile game.

One is "be careful... log out"

One is "be careful... don't say immensely stupid or embarrassing shit"


So you didn't miss the point...read your one sentence comment too simplistically. My apology.
Twitter and Government Employees  
buford : 7/22/2014 4:21 pm : link
are a bad combination. Hashtag diplomacy is the worst.
RE: Twitter and Government Employees  
RC02XX : 7/22/2014 4:26 pm : link
In comment 11776822 buford said:
Quote:
are a bad combination. Hashtag diplomacy is the worst.


Bingo. My point exactly with all of these government agencies using social media to promote their agencies and their actions. Unless it's needed to collection intelligence or data, the whole concept of government agencies using Twitter or Facebook or whatever seems...amateurish to me. But that's just my opinion.
This is not remotely interesting.  
Mike in Long Beach : 7/22/2014 4:46 pm : link
The tweet wasn't even that bad.
I set up a Twitter account for my department  
Gary from The East End : Admin : 7/22/2014 4:46 pm : link
It's a really efficient way to push out news and alerts.

I'd never log on to the Ops Twitter account on my phone, though.
RE: RE: ..  
ed90631 : 7/22/2014 7:27 pm : link
In comment 11776810 RC02XX said:
Quote:
In comment 11776690 Kyle said:


Quote:


Didn't miss the point (do you think it was hard to miss?), just didn't find this to be an example of anything more than what I wrote.

Organizations getting into pissing contests or actively writing embarassing statements is worlds different from some intern forgetting to log out of the EPA Twitter account on their phone and hitting the Share button in a mobile game.

One is "be careful... log out"

One is "be careful... don't say immensely stupid or embarrassing shit"



So you didn't miss the point...read your one sentence comment too simplistically. My apology.
What is really embarassing for the whole country is the State Dept.'s use of Twitter. The whole gov't Twitter thing reeks of unseriousness in dealing with very serious business.

I have a Twitter and a FB account but get off my lawn anyway. LOL.
ed  
Sir-Yes-Sir : 7/22/2014 9:30 pm : link
you need to seriously reevaluate the importance of twitter. characterizing it as a goofy social network is a statement entirely oblivious to the truth

sure, goofiness can be found on twitter, but it has already become a powerful and important tool for connecting people and delivering information.

during hurricane sandy, twitter was the BEST source of info as I followed the power companies and local municipalities to keep me informed on what was going on

during the recent mh17 disaster, the networks basically got all their images, information, and insight through twitter accounts. I saw cnn essentially just say "here's what they're saying on twitter" for the first 48 hours.

Should agencies like the CIA and EPA be running accounts? of course they should. (CIA is a bit trickier due to the secretive nature of the agency, but even so, having one isn't a bad idea) Some have questioned the tone of some offical tweets, but they are simply trying to effectively connect with a younger audience using a slightly different language.
Back to the Corner