It is amazing how a little vacation and some good food, containing the neccessary nutrients often missing from my diet, can lead to moments of clarity. Somewhere between Sonoma and Novato, Calif. it occurred to me how to jump start my blog and find a new purpose. It’s actually been sitting underneath waiting to gurgle up, but I was holding it down. The epiphany: what is the connection between social media, public relation stratics (you’re welcome Ike Pigott) and public service. You don’t hear too much about social media being used by public service agencies. It’s right up there with discussions about SEO optimatization and statistical tracking of hits and users.

I need to do some research, but my guess is that examples of social media use by public service and government agencies is very rare. I wonder why? It would seem that public service agencies would need to showcase their efforts and the taxpayers investment in their good works. Or, perhaps they are too afraid of being found out? I’m going to look into this and see if I can’t shed some light on the use of social media, blogs and other interactive communication by governments.