The Central Intelligence Agency, the principle U.S. government agency tasked with intelligence-gathering overseas, joined Twitter on Friday and immediately went viral with its first tweet.
We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.
— CIA (@CIA) June 6, 2014
The agency also joined Facebook, further expanding its social media presence outside of its current accounts on Flickr and YouTube.
“By expanding to these platforms, CIA will be able to more directly engage with the public and provide information on CIA’s mission, history, and other developments,” said CIA Director John Brennan. “We have important insights to share, and we want to make sure that unclassified information about the Agency is more accessible to the American public that we serve, consistent with our national security mission.”
U.S. government agencies jumping into the social media game is nothing new, but the results have sometimes been bizarre, to say the least.
For instance, the U.S. State Department’s “Think Again Turn Away” Twitter account spends a lot of its time getting into arguments with jihadist groups and their supporters, many of whom have a robust social media presence used to spread propaganda.
But it doesn’t sound like that’s the kind of back-and-forth the CIA has planned for its new account.
“(In addition to) the latest news, statements, and career information from CIA, the Agency’s social media updates will also feature artifacts and other information from the CIA’s Museum – the best museum most people never get to see,” the Agency stated in press release.
The CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia is not open to the public, and their website only includes a very limited “virtual tour” of their facilities, so any peek inside the fabled Agency’s walls will be more than anything the public has had access to in the past.
I hope the @CIA twitter follows back, because then I can really say that the CIA is following me
— B. M. Smith (@bmcsmith92) June 6, 2014
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.