Ordinary citizens have flocked to social media by the millions. If government wants to get its messages out and truly engage the citizenry, agencies need to embrace the same tools, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention marketing specialist.

"That is where the commercial entities are, that is where we have to be to as government," Janice Nall, director of the Division of eHealth Marketing at the CDC's National Center for Health Marketing, said at a Washington, D.C., event last week, reports Federal Computer Week.

But rather than merely re-posting agency talking points or documents, Nall recomended that government entities share some important information in places like Second Life, Facebook and popular blogs, perhaps embarking on a text-messaging campaign or two for specific services like smoking cessation, to drive traffic back to the main agency website.

CDC has a metrics dashboard to track how its communications are received. "It is not just metrics. We're not just doing it because it is cool," Nall explained. Goals for various agncies include convincing more parents to get their children vaccinated, encouraging people to recycle or cut waiting times at airports.

For more:
- take a look at this FCW story

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