Follow the Department of Labor on social networking sites

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has announced that it now has a presence on two key social networking websites.  The Department is regularly posting to Twitter at www.twitter.com/coloradolabor and can be found at www.Facebook.com by searching for “Colorado Dept. of Labor & Employment.”  The Department has also provided links to its Twitter and Facebook pages at its website, www.colorado.gov/cdle.
 
Social networking sites have become a global phenomenon, growing at astonishing rates.  Twitter is ranked the fourteenth most popular internet site in the world.  Facebook attracted 25 million new users in February alone and its members between the ages of  35 and 54 have nearly quadrupled their use of Facebook.  Members older than 55 have tripled.
 
Modern government operations long ago migrated to the web.  But as technologies change, attitudes and expectations also change and the next critical information platform to be utilized is Social Networking.  It is providing a quick exchange of information between government and those served and a new inclusiveness in who can tap into and use government information, says Department of Labor and Employment Executive Director Donald J. Mares.  “The people we serve have a greater access to computers and mobile devices than ever before.  Twitter and Facebook are providing us with an opportunity to maximize our communication with customers.”
 
The uses for Twitter and Facebook are almost without limit and Mares says it is time for the public sector to benefit from this most public of movements.  The Department’s recent updates to Twitter (called Tweets) and Facebook have included news about upcoming hiring events, emergency unemployment compensation updates and weekly job postings.  The Department’s Unemployment Insurance Program intends to post alerts as necessary, including even up-to-the-minute information about wait times at the Call Center.
 
It’s all about information -- wider and faster access to information.  And, as information flows faster and farther, a new era of efficiency is arriving.