What Happens When the CIA Joins Twitter

CIA

A podcast discussion of the agency's unique social media strategy.

The CIA sent out its first tweet in June 2014. The response to the humorous message -- "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet" -- was overwhelming, and the agency now has over 1 million followers.

Nextgov reporter Mohana Ravindranath sat down with David Egts and Gunnar Hellekson (both are with Red Hat) of the Dave & Gunnar Show podcast to discuss the CIA's social media strategy and how it differs from other federal agencies.

As a rule, the agency doesn't engage with citizens or tout current programs and initiatives. Instead, the CIA uses Twitter to highlight the agency's history as well as recruit potential future employees, including through cryptic coded messages.

Listen to the podcast episode here.