U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Study on Social Media Use in Government

The National Archives and Records Administration released a new study this week entitled Federal Web 2.0 Use and Record Value.

From the press release:

"The report explores how [American] Federal agencies are using web 2.0 tools to create and share information. Tools examined include internal and external blogs, wikis, social networking, and other collaborative web-based technologies."

"Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero, a blogger and Tweeter himself, stressed the importance of such virtual outreach: 'Social media and other web 2.0 tools are key aspects in furthering transparency and open government and through this study NARA provides a foundation for understanding and addressing the records management challenges these tools present'."

"Six Federal agencies were assessed on their use of and policies regarding web 2.0 tools. Representatives from an additional 19 Federal agencies participated in a focus group session."

Last week, I wrote a post entitled Social Media and Public Sector Policy Dilemmas that referred to a study for the Institute of Public Administration of Canada that examined the "many of the impediments to the use and spread of social media (blogs, wikis, Facebook-style tools) in the public/government sector".