Tuesday, August 16, 2011

What up with that? Congress slow on embracing Google+

I'm surprised to discover that members Congress have been slow to pick up on Google+. Most of the congressional media people I know are pretty young, which leads me to channel SNL's Kenan Thompson and say, "What up with that?"

Writing for the Daily Caller, Patrick Hynes does some digging:

Despite the successful and headline-grabbing launch of Google+, only thirteen Members of the U.S. Senate and fifteen Members of Congress have established profiles on the new social networking site, far fewer than the number from each chamber who are active on Facebook and Twitter.

Google+ launched in July to much fanfare and within three weeks had attracted 20 million users in the U.S. Some technology pundits have labeled it a "Facebook killer."

Congress' slow adoption of Google+ comes as a surprise because the new social networking platform contains at least one unique function the others do not: It allows users tosegregate relationships into "Circles," meaning Members of Congress can isolate constituents from other followers. Heavy social networking "spam" from non-constituents is a significant frustration for members and their social media staffs.

"Just the other day someone posted on our Facebook wall that she wished my boss was her Senator," a Hill press secretary told me.
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