Rock Creek Roundup (June 11 Edition)

Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Director of Strategy Jun 11, 2010 0 Comments

A web technology analyst in Florida launches a website that can serve as a resource throughout the United States, Twitter wants someone who knows government, a state elections board wants politicians to identify social media campaigns, and the House Republican Conference ends a successful social media challenge, all in this week’s version of the Rock Creek Roundup.

—What do you do if you’re a web technology analyst for a state government organization and you’re constantly getting calls and questions about how to get started with social media? If you’re April Edmonds, you develop an entire IT toolkit designed to give your peers the tips and information they need to launch and maintain their own efforts. Edmonds, who works for Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, recently launched FLSocMedia, which gives details on everything from writing a descriptive tweet to approaching accessibility concerns when working with video. It’s really impressive—with some time, a free Google-hosted website, and her own experiences and expertise, Edmonds has created a resource that will help government employees in Florida and beyond.

—Need a job? Microblogging service Twitter is hiring, but you’ve got to be willing to give up your Silicon Valley address if you get the gig. Earlier this week, Twitter published a job announcement for a Government Liaison. The company’s first employee who will live and work in the Washington, DC area, the liaison will be responsible for supporting “policymakers’ use of Twitter to help them communicate and interact with their constituents and the world.”

—Speaking of politicians and social media, the election board officials in the state of Maryland are backing a measure that would require political candidates to identify their social media campaigns. Similar to the way that broadcast and print ads spell out, “Paid for by the Committee to Elect John Smith,” elections officials are suggesting that official political social media sites also note the committee or person responsible for the account on the site’s homepage or within the profile. They also recommend that messages distributed through social media should be archived in the same way that other methods of campaign communication are. Officials believe that identifying “official” social network profiles will help voters discern between official communications and those that may be created by people or groups unassociated with the candidate.

—40,000 social media fans in six weeks. That’s the end result of the recent “House Republican New Media Challenge,” a six-week competition that challenged GOP representatives to try and expand their new media presence and gain more followers, fans, and subscribers. Nearly 60 representatives participated in the contest, but Louisiana’s Rep. John Fleming (LA-04) took home the top prize, an iPhone. Contest organizers admit, however, that the real winner was the House Republican Conference itself. No matter what your political leaning, you have to admit—numbers like those in that amount of time are quite impressive.

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Meagen Ryan

Director of Strategy

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