Poll: Government sites slow to adopt social media

Communicators can’t update sites due to turf wars, ban on social media at work

Although communicators overwhelmingly believe blogs, social networks, polls and wikis have a place on government sites, most agencies have yet to incorporate the latest Web 2.0 technology into their Web sites.

A recent poll of government and corporate communicators conducted by Ragan Communications and PollStream found 80 percent of the 555 poll respondents believe Web 2.0 tools would give government Web sites the upgrade they desperately need. But nearly half (45 percent) of government communicators report control over their Web site is a turf battle between IT and communicators. And, 70 percent of communicators at government agencies can’t access social media at work.

“There’s no doubt that government agencies as a whole can do more — I don’t know of anyone that is using it to its fullest potential,” says Lt. Col. Gerald Ostlund, U.S. Army Reserve Webmaster.

Ostlund, who’s adding social media to the Reserve’s online presence, says one reason for the slow uptake is the sensitive information and taxpayer money that pass through agencies.