5 ms·

Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? At the very least if these sites are being used for

Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? At the very least if these sites are being used for official communication that might be critical to peoples safety some sort of privileged status or ToS should be negotiated. Can you imagine Musk banning some random non-USA government agency because he had a fit while high at 3 am? Also: https://xkcd.com/743/ https://xkcd.com/743/

wepple 3y ago
NY Transit officially stopped using Twitter. I hope others follows. Google results that require a login to view are cancerous
- fireflash38 3y ago
  How long did it take for expertsexchange to finally stop showing in Google results despite being super obnoxious? Yeah you could scroll way to the bottom, but that only worked if you came there direct from Google.
  - chris_wot 3y ago
    It took them just as long as it took for them to put in a dash between experts and exchange.
ben_w 3y ago
> Can you imagine Musk banning some random non-USA government agency because he had a fit while high at 3 am? Not only, but also. Does the Chinese government run an account? Have American politicians been as upset about this as they seem to have been about TikTok? I'd check the former, but, well, the subject under discussion.
corndoge 3y ago
> Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? Exactly this. It's fine if they use twitter to syndicate news that is also announced on official government systems, but not as a primary and certainly not as a solitary distribution method. > Can you imagine Musk banning some random non-USA government agency because he had a fit while high at 3 am? That would be hilarious and maybe it would result in some people learning that twitter is in fact a private corporation that can do whatever it wants, but i doubt it - similar incidents proved that large swathes of users believe twitter is or should be treated as public infrastructure rather than prompting significant moves to user controlled platforms
kevinmchugh 3y ago
Musk has been deferential to governments to date, even when that flies in the face of his idea of a free speech platform.
- andsoitis 3y ago
  > Musk has been deferential to governments to date, even when that flies in the face of his idea of a free speech platform. It’s a business. Free speech is the brand.
- KerrAvon 3y ago
  Musk has also been deferential to catturd2 and banned journalists for imagined crimes.
  - kevinmchugh 3y ago
    I like to be able to point to times when Musk errs from his stated free speech mission so I'm curious for the journalists in question. I know he upheld the Alex Jones ban explicitly because he found Jones' speech distasteful. It'd be nice to have a more sympathetic person to refer to.
paulddraper 3y ago
> Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? Reach. IDK if anyone is using it as the sole method of communication. But Twitter in practice has a much higher reach than every other method.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
  I've definitely seen critical info communicated either only on Twitter, or first on Twitter and only much later elsewhere. Not sure if it was alerts ("chemical plant on fire, close windows") or crisis communication ("emergency water supplies being distributed at Foo street"), but it was a case of "use Twitter or suffer serious consequences". Stuff like "public transit line 17 out of service" being announced only on Twitter is completely par for the course.
- KerrAvon 3y ago
  It doesn't, though; this is a myth propagated by journalists, who are Twitter addicts and are the only reason it survived Musk's initial incompetence.
- coldcode 3y ago
  Why can't someone build a twitter just for such purposes?
  - hoppyhoppy2 3y ago
    They do exist (e.g. Nixle) but tend to cost money (for the govt agency)
  - paulddraper 3y ago
    Because people won't use it. REACH
nologic01 3y ago
This is one of the biggest scandals nobody is talking about. Any talk about privacy awareness is invalidated when public sector entities endorse these platforms and encourage citizens to participate. Any talk about the public sector not picking winners is a joke when they explicitly advertise and provide links on their websites to particular platforms. We have normalized alot of abnormal stuff in the past decade...
thomasahle 3y ago
> Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? It's the responsibility of the government to make information available where the citizens are. As the citizens moved from radio and TV to social media, the government followed.
- BirAdam 3y ago
  Definitely this. The big thing now will be: where is everyone? Twitters active user numbers are fine, but for how long? Likewise with Facebook as younger people aren’t showing up there. Will the governments of the USA need to be on every single platform? Should USDS just make a new news site just for the governments to broadcast on?
- johannes1234321 3y ago
  It is right to be present on Twitter. But the question is: Should it be the single/primary channel or only secondary channel filled from a primary source, like their website? Of course, running a website, which allows those quick edits requires with dealing with secure infrastructure, maybe apps dir field agents to write something etc. which they could all outsource to Twitter (and vendors of tools built around Twitter API for scheduled tweets etc.) Its somewhat similar with public broadcasters (BBC, German ARD etc ) putting their content on YouTube (where consumers are) vs their sites (where they control it, including privacy concerns)
UlisesAC4 3y ago
> Why the hell Simple, if you are not there you do not exist. Go and check how many of your contacts follow the oficial accounts of your local government. Also, the common layman isn't anyone that suddenly gets the urge to check your official webpage, if you are lucky you are in their social media results.

wepple 3y ago

NY Transit officially stopped using Twitter. I hope others follows. Google results that require a login to view are cancerous

fireflash38 3y ago
How long did it take for expertsexchange to finally stop showing in Google results despite being super obnoxious? Yeah you could scroll way to the bottom, but that only worked if you came there direct from Google.
- chris_wot 3y ago
  It took them just as long as it took for them to put in a dash between experts and exchange.

ben_w 3y ago

> Can you imagine Musk banning some random non-USA government agency because he had a fit while high at 3 am? Not only, but also. Does the Chinese government run an account? Have American politicians been as upset about this as they seem to have been about TikTok? I'd check the former, but, well, the subject under discussion.

corndoge 3y ago

> Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? Exactly this. It's fine if they use twitter to syndicate news that is also announced on official government systems, but not as a primary and certainly not as a solitary distribution method. > Can you imagine Musk banning some random non-USA government agency because he had a fit while high at 3 am? That would be hilarious and maybe it would result in some people learning that twitter is in fact a private corporation that can do whatever it wants, but i doubt it - similar incidents proved that large swathes of users believe twitter is or should be treated as public infrastructure rather than prompting significant moves to user controlled platforms

kevinmchugh 3y ago

Musk has been deferential to governments to date, even when that flies in the face of his idea of a free speech platform.

andsoitis 3y ago
> Musk has been deferential to governments to date, even when that flies in the face of his idea of a free speech platform. It’s a business. Free speech is the brand.
KerrAvon 3y ago
Musk has also been deferential to catturd2 and banned journalists for imagined crimes.
- kevinmchugh 3y ago
  I like to be able to point to times when Musk errs from his stated free speech mission so I'm curious for the journalists in question. I know he upheld the Alex Jones ban explicitly because he found Jones' speech distasteful. It'd be nice to have a more sympathetic person to refer to.

paulddraper 3y ago

> Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? Reach. IDK if anyone is using it as the sole method of communication. But Twitter in practice has a much higher reach than every other method.

tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
I've definitely seen critical info communicated either only on Twitter, or first on Twitter and only much later elsewhere. Not sure if it was alerts ("chemical plant on fire, close windows") or crisis communication ("emergency water supplies being distributed at Foo street"), but it was a case of "use Twitter or suffer serious consequences". Stuff like "public transit line 17 out of service" being announced only on Twitter is completely par for the course.
KerrAvon 3y ago
It doesn't, though; this is a myth propagated by journalists, who are Twitter addicts and are the only reason it survived Musk's initial incompetence.
coldcode 3y ago
Why can't someone build a twitter just for such purposes?
- hoppyhoppy2 3y ago
  They do exist (e.g. Nixle) but tend to cost money (for the govt agency)
- paulddraper 3y ago
  Because people won't use it. REACH

nologic01 3y ago

This is one of the biggest scandals nobody is talking about. Any talk about privacy awareness is invalidated when public sector entities endorse these platforms and encourage citizens to participate. Any talk about the public sector not picking winners is a joke when they explicitly advertise and provide links on their websites to particular platforms. We have normalized alot of abnormal stuff in the past decade...

thomasahle 3y ago

> Why the hell are government agencies using Twitter/Facebook for official communication in the first place? It's the responsibility of the government to make information available where the citizens are. As the citizens moved from radio and TV to social media, the government followed.

BirAdam 3y ago
Definitely this. The big thing now will be: where is everyone? Twitters active user numbers are fine, but for how long? Likewise with Facebook as younger people aren’t showing up there. Will the governments of the USA need to be on every single platform? Should USDS just make a new news site just for the governments to broadcast on?
johannes1234321 3y ago
It is right to be present on Twitter. But the question is: Should it be the single/primary channel or only secondary channel filled from a primary source, like their website? Of course, running a website, which allows those quick edits requires with dealing with secure infrastructure, maybe apps dir field agents to write something etc. which they could all outsource to Twitter (and vendors of tools built around Twitter API for scheduled tweets etc.) Its somewhat similar with public broadcasters (BBC, German ARD etc ) putting their content on YouTube (where consumers are) vs their sites (where they control it, including privacy concerns)

UlisesAC4 3y ago

> Why the hell Simple, if you are not there you do not exist. Go and check how many of your contacts follow the oficial accounts of your local government. Also, the common layman isn't anyone that suddenly gets the urge to check your official webpage, if you are lucky you are in their social media results.