Adding to their social media portfolio on YouTube and Flickr, the U.S. Department of Energy launched Facebook and Twitter pages yesterday, outlined in an introductory blog post as well.
Of note from that post:
We’re introducing the Energy Blog at a critical moment for the Department. From our program offices to our national laboratories to our field offices, we are driving innovation to create a new, clean energy economy that will spark job creation and reduce our dependence on oil, while cutting our greenhouse gas emissions. We are also meeting the critical responsibilities of reducing nuclear dangers and environmental risks. At the core of all our work is a commitment to lead the world in science, technology and engineering and expand the frontiers of knowledge.
While the act of starting a blog is hardly novel, it is a first for us and part of our commitment to achieving the level of transparency, engagement, and accessibility that you should expect from your government.
It is interesting that those three tenets are different from the first White House blog post, back on January 20, 2009, when the focus was on transparency, communication, and participation.
I’ll grant the DOE folks that engagement is a better (albeit buzz)word than participation, but is communication implied in transparency?
Moreover, what’s with accessibility? Does that mean I will have a future ability to add a comment on a blog post? Does that mean I can tweet @Energy and get a personalized reply? Does that mean questions asked on the Facebook wall will be answered?
I hope transparency and accessibility can be interwoven into the DOE to truly engage the American people. If the government chooses to broadcast, broadcast, broadcast — well, I’ll be disappointed because I’d be prevented to engage back. Between my Facebook comment above and the tweet I sent here, time will tell if I get a response.
Initial responses are quick.
From my Facebook question comes, “Thanks for the question, Ari. The Department of Energy New Media team within the Office of Public Affairs manages the day-to-day online communications for the Energy Blog and DOE social media presence. As much as possible, we try to facilitate bringing the voices of our experts to this medium. For example, if you have any questions about yesterday… See More’s Clean Energy Ministerial, feel free to ask them right here on Facebook or on Twitter via #CEM and David Sandalow, the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, will follow up in a few days with some answers on the Energy Blog.”
And from my tweet comes, “the DOE New Media team led by @cammiecroft manages the online communications for @Energy”
About Ari Herzog
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