GAO Tweets and Tubes
There are few agencies that we reporters pay closer attention to than the Government Accountability Office. As the investigative arm of the legislative branch, GAO auditors are responsible for uncovering many of the largest cases of fraud or waste in the federal government. Almost everything they publish is of interest to someone out there, which is why we are thrilled to see they are making efforts to expand their audience by joining the Government 2.0 movement.
There are few agencies that we reporters pay closer attention to than the Government Accountability Office. As the investigative arm of the legislative branch, GAO auditors are responsible for uncovering many of the largest cases of fraud or waste in the federal government. Almost everything they publish is of interest to someone out there, which is why we are thrilled to see they are making efforts to expand their audience by joining the Government 2.0 movement.
Today the agency unveiled new offerings onTwitter and YouTube and a GAO spokesperson said more social media agreements may be forthcoming.
GAO is always exploring ways to use innovative practices and emerging technologies to carry out its mission," said Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general of the United States and head of the GAO, in a release. "While we've made extensive use of the Internet for some time, posting material on YouTube and Twitter offers new possibilities to inform people about our efforts to promote accountability and transparency in federal programs and operations.
The agency's new YouTube channel is definitely worth a visit. Right now the featured video is a recruitment piece featuring some interesting facts about the agency. The channel also features videos from GAO's web site intended to provide agencies with transition and Recovery Act guidance. A GAO spokesman said the agency is simply trying to provide information to the public where they already are online. The agency signed terms of service agreements similar to the those established by GSA for agencies seeking to make use of social networking sites.
GAO's Twitter account on the other hand is still a work in progress. Right now the only updates are links to GAO reports as they are published. Obviously the agency's investigative mission and legislative oversight makes it difficult to disclose information in real-time, but we would be a lot more interested in following them if we knew it was a real person twittering about government accountability rather than just a glorified RSS feed.
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