Entry bubble "Socializing" with Hispanics

By: Leilani | June 26, 2009 | Category: Spanish

I'm writing this post from "La Isla del encanto" Puerto Rico.  The reason I'm here is that I'm attending the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference (NAHJ) to promote GobiernoUSA.gov, the site I co-manage, and all other Spanish-language services that my organization offers.

Hispanics account for 15% of the population and 34 million people in the United States report speaking Spanish at home. So the need to provide government information in Spanish is real. Some people have asked me on my earlier posts why government is spending money translating information into other languages. There's not only the demand for this kind of information, but there's also an Executive Order  that requires federal agencies to provide critical information in other languages.

It has become more evident to me, especially these last few days, that Hispanics are not only getting connected online at a fast pace, but they are also actively participating on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It has been great to interact with CNN en español and the Washington Post, but I have to admit that one of the highlights of this trip was when six journalism students stopped by the GobiernoUSA.gov booth. After a brief tour of the site, I could tell they weren't completely sold. So that's when I showed them the GobiernoUSA.gov's Facebook page and their eyes quickly lit up. They were not only impressed, but they also thought we had the "coolest" information for them. Woo hoo!

So yes, we're on Facebook and Twitter but that doesn't mean that we will stop reaching out to the public through more traditional means. If those six students start now finding government information because they're already on Facebook and that's where they "hang out", then we will be accomplishing our mission of making government easy and accesible for people.

Why not try it for yourself? Go to our Facebook pages and become a fan:

You can also follow us on Twitter:

Let us know what you think and how we can make these pages better.

Lea la versión en español

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: facebook   government   hispanics   leilani   nahj   spanish   twitter  

 

Entry bubble El Gobierno a tu alcance

By: Leilani | June 26, 2009 | Category: Spanish

Estoy escribiendo esta nota desde "La Isla del encanto" Puerto Rico. La razón por la cual estoy acá es porque Conectarestoy participando en la conferencia de la Asociación Nacional de Periodistas Hispanos (NAHJ por su sigla en inglés) para promover el sitio GobiernoUSA.gov, del cual soy co-gerente, y los servicios que mi organización ofrece en español. 

Los hispanos representan el 15% de la población de los EE. UU. y 34 millones de personas reportan hablar español en el hogar. Así que la necesidad de ofrecer información oficial en español es real.  Algunas personas me han preguntado en ocasiones anteriores a través de este blog por qué el Gobierno gasta dinero en traducir información en otros idiomas. Además de existir la demanda por esta información, hay una Orden Ejecutiva que requiere que las agencias federales ofrezcan información crítica en otros idiomas. 

Es cada vez más evidente, sobre todo durante estos días que he estado en esta conferencia, que los hispanos no solo se están conectando al Internet a gran velocidad sino también están participando activamente en sitios tales como Facebook y Twitter.  Ha sido buenísimo interactuar con CNN en español y el Washington Post pero tengo que admitir que uno de los mejores momentos para mí en esta conferencia sucedió ayer cuando seis estudiantes de periodismo pasaron por el puesto de GobiernoUSA.gov.  Después de darles un breve tour del sitio, me pude dar cuenta que no estaban completamente convencidos.  Decidí entonces enseñarles la página de GobiernoUSA.gov en Facebook. Por unos minutos los cautivé.  Estaban impresionados y me comentaron que teníamos la información más “cool” para ellos.  Woo hoo!

Sí, estamos en Facebook y Twitter pero eso no significa que dejaremos de comunicarnos con el público por medios más tradicionales. Nuestra presencia en Facebook y Twitter simplemente complementa el trabajo que llevamos haciendo ya varios años.  Si esos seis estudiantes empiezan a encontrar información del Gobierno en Facebook porque ya están ahí, estaremos cumpliendo con nuestra misión de facilitarle al público el acceso a información del Gobierno.

Te invito a que vayas a nuestras páginas en Facebook, las de GobiernoUSA.gov y USA.gov, y te hagas fan. También puedes seguirnos en Twitter: twitter.com/gobiernousa y twitter.com/usagov.  Déjanos saber qué piensas y cómo podemos mejorar estas páginas.

Read English Version

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: espanol   facebook   gobierno   leilani   nahj   twitter  

 

Entry bubble Government 2.0

By: Jess | May 21, 2009 | Category: Fun

It wasn't too long ago that I told you about some of the cool things we were experimenting with using social media such as RSS feeds and Twitter to help bring you government information where you want to get it. (If you missed the earlier post, you can find us here: Twitter.com/pueblo81009, Twitter.com/usagov, Twitter.com/gobiernousa.)

More recently we've created Facebook pages where you can find USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov as well as consumer information from the Federal Citizen Information Center. Our goal is to help you find the government information you need in places you normally spend time online. If Facebook is one of those places and you like getting information from your news feed, becoming fans of our pages will deliver daily doses of information right into that feed. I encourage you to comment on our postings, tell us what you like or don't like and feel free to ask questions.

Our newest expansion into the social media world is the brand-spanking new U.S. Government YouTube channel. The channel is a portal to videos from all of the federal agencies posting videos to YouTube. You'll find messages from officials, how-to videos about applying for Social Security benefits, NASA videos of astronauts in space and more from tons of other agencies. If you've got a minute, I encourage you to go check it out!

My question to you about social media is how much do you use it and do you like interacting with the government and getting government information through these channels? 

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: facebook   jess   social_media   twitter   youtube  

 

Entry bubble Where to find us on the social Web

By: Jess | March 05, 2009 | Category: Fun

Man on computer

Back in October Joanne wrote about how the government was making inroads using social media tools to reach larger audiences. In four short months, USA.gov, GobiernoUSA.gov and Pueblo.gsa.gov, as well as many other government agencies, have made a lot of progress on the social media front.

If Twitter is your scene you can follow all three. GovGab also has a Twitter feed if you prefer getting updates on our recent posts that way. Feel free to reach out to us on Twitter as well. If you post a question to the Pueblo feed, I'm the person who will Tweet the information back to you. We also use our Twitter feeds to share all kinds of interesting government information like recall alerts or the latest on what President Obama is up to.

We also offer e-mail alerts, RSS feeds and widgets if you want to centralize all the information we provide in one place on your computer. I encourage you to check us out on which ever social media platform you prefer. If you're not currently using any form of social media, why not pick one and give it a try? It's a great chance to learn valuable information in a new a way.

If you have questions on how to get started with social media or where to find us, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll try my best to help you out.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: facebook   government   government_2.0   jess   pueblo.gsa.gov   rss_feeds   social_media   twitter   usa.gov   web_2.0  

 

Entry bubble Government and Social Media

By: Joanne | October 28, 2008 | Category: General

connectLast week the Social Media Club of Washington kindly invited me to join a panel presentation on social media in government. It was a great opportunity for me to talk to the group about how USA.gov is exploring social media to connect with the public and to deliver government information and services in this powerful new way.

I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about the government using social media, and when I was with the Social Media Club it was really energizing to see the level of interest the social media community has in government using social media tools.

That’s why we’re stepping up to the next level. Government agencies are using social media tools like blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter to reach out and give you information. USA.gov is working on a strategy to use social media tools to better engage in conversation with the public and to deliver information and services the way you want to get it. Do you like to get your information from the printed page, hold that publication in your hands? Do you like to talk to us on the phone? Or are you into blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the like?

Help us form our strategy by telling us what you like – fill out this quick (about 5 minute) survey.

| View Comments [12] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: blog   club   facebook   government   joanne   media   social   twitter