George Bush is getting a Myspace account?

Ok this headline might be a little misleading, but I assure you its not out of the realm of possibilities in this crazy digital world. The reason I wrote that title is because recently the government just announced that they will be looking into ways of incorporating social media to improve civic communication. Now, this may seem like a horrible idea, but this sounds like it could be cool, partly due to one main reason: the title of the group that will be responsible for making the changes. The name of the group is..........brace yourselves,

Power of Information Task Force!

How awesome of a name is that. I can only imagine a movie montage of the government selecting the geekiest kids in front of their lonely computer screens from across the nation. Each possessing a different technology power. "I'm Tommy, I'm the best at approving friend requests!" "I'm Sabrina, I'm the best Facebook poker this side of the Mississippi!" So on and so forth. Man, even I want to be a part of the POWER OF INFORMATION TASK FORCE!

Anyways, the question is how is this task force going to help us? A government official is quoted as saying, "There are new opportunities for Government to engage with people in the online world. Every day, hundreds and thousands of people come together online to solve problems and exchange ideas on public policy issues - whether raising kids, tackling debt or seeking health advice." It's good to know it took nearly a decade for the government to realize, maybe this internet thing is something worth looking into. Here are a couple of points of interest the Task Force hopes to locate, acquire, and execute over the next few months:

• exploring ways in which Government can use online forums to advise citizens


• the feasibility of making Government-owned data such as maps more accessible to people to 'mash up' with other public data to encourage citizens to engage on issues they care about,

Sounds like fun. I'm glad our tax dollars are going towards paying people to create another Myspace. Oh well, maybe we will be able to benefit from this, like who knows we could very soon be able to friend request Condoleeza Rice before this year is out. Oh the possibilities!

I hope the task force looks something like this -