Online Community Promotes Government Information Sharing
Social networking and other Web 2.0 applications have caught on with business and personal users, but while new media has many potential uses in the government sector, implementation has been slow and uneven. A social networking site designed for government employees is changing this state of affairs by allowing people from across the federal, state and local spheres—both in the U.S. and internationally—to communicate and share information. And the idea is catching on. In less than a year, more than 12,000 users have signed on.
GovLoop currently is the only social network for all government employees, claims its founder, Steve Ressler. An information technology specialist at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he was inspired to create the site after he identified silos where many groups in government were working on common issues but not sharing information.
Launched in June 2008, Ressler introduced GovLoop to friends and then began to virally spread word about the site by reaching out to government associations and affiliated groups to join the network. He believes that the site offers a safe place for government personnel to connect and share best practices and ideas to improve government.
The site is not officially sanctioned or endorsed by the
The site features a wiki highlighting examples of government social media policies and a repository of best practices in areas such as government hiring and Twitter usage. He notes that many organizations now are wrestling with how to employ new media applications such as Facebook and Twitter. GovLoop also features lists of agencies and private companies that have implemented social media programs.
Ressler shares that GovLoop has allowed him to encounter a variety of people in the government community. He adds that GovLoop has enabled people to meet new friends and colleagues, get jobs and influence policy. GovLoop members have formed an “Acquisition 2.0” movement to create innovative acquisition methods, and he notes that the community has actively provided input into the Obama administration’s Open Government Memo. “You meet all these smart and interesting people with diverse backgrounds that you might otherwise not have met and are all working on the same issues,” he says.
GovLoop members create profile pages, friend individuals and join networks of people with common interests to share notes and information. A major part of the site is focused on blogging. Ressler says that there are some 10 major blogs discussing a variety of topics. Another feature on the site is online forums that focus on a range of topics, from the quality of coffee at work to more substantive issues such as definitions of Web 2.0, how to wiki and agency interoperability for data sharing.
The site hosts many groups that are affiliated with the government, such as AFCEA International. GovLoop also features lists of government projects of interest and a Defense Department “Techpedia” of terms and definitions. Other applications include an event calendar for group activities and schedules and a Twitter tracker that highlights GovLoop Twitter discussions. A news feed enables members to post and share news stories of interest. “It’s a lot of really good information that I think helps people connect with others and do their jobs better,” he says.
Approximately 50 percent of the community’s members are federal employees, 30 percent are state and local employees and 5 percent to 10 percent are international members. Ressler notes that these members are mainly from English-speaking nations such as
Ressler hopes to continue improving the site. “There’s a lot of information to be shared to improve government. Right now we’ve got 12,000 members; I don’t see why we shouldn’t be doing that with 100,000 people—helping people improve their jobs and helping each other instead of reinventing the wheel,” he maintains.
