{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "State of Federal Blogging 2016 |Digital.gov",
    "description": "State of Federal Blogging 2016",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/01/15/state-of-federal-blogging-2016/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"State of Federal Blogging 2016","summary" : "How government agencies blog has come a long way in the past decade. As we welcome 2016, here is a look at how the White House, NASA and the Department of the Interior run their blogs and share content. White House: Blog Less, Empower More When you go to WhiteHouse.gov, their blog is featured prominently","date" : "2016-01-15T10:00:10-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"danielle-brigida" : "Danielle Brigida"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2016-01-15-state-of-federal-blogging-2016.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2016/01/2016-01-15-state-of-federal-blogging-2016.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/01/2016-01-15-state-of-federal-blogging-2016.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/01/2016-01-15-state-of-federal-blogging-2016.md","slug" : "state-of-federal-blogging-2016","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/01/15/state-of-federal-blogging-2016/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eHow government agencies blog has come a long way in the past decade. As we welcome 2016, here is a look at how the \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog\"\u003eWhite House\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.nasa.gov/\"\u003eNASA\u003c/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog\"\u003eDepartment of the Interior\u003c/a\u003e run their blogs and share content. \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/01/600-x-400-Blog-Letterpress-Jason-Enterline-iStock-Thinkstock-470747892.jpg\"\n    alt=\"The word Blog spelled out in letterpress.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"white-house-blog-less-empower-more\"\u003eWhite House: Blog Less, Empower More\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen you go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/\"\u003eWhiteHouse.gov\u003c/a\u003e, their blog is featured prominently as a main source of news for the administration. It’s not just a repository for past Administration actions, it’s a dynamic and responsive site to help connect Americans with opportunities to engage on the issues of the day, his schedule, and news from the President and his senior officials. The White House Office of Digital Strategy (ODS) team has witnessed a shift in how they use blogging in their strategy over the last year. After undergoing a massive redesign, their blog is now used for sharing longer form content that needs more context or can inform people on major administrative actions and initiatives.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/01/600-x-337-White-House-Blog-homepage-above-the-fold-Jan-11th-2016.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the White House Blog homepage on January 11, 2016.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch3 id=\"structure\"\u003eStructure\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe White House has one central blog, \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog\"\u003ewh.gov/blog\u003c/a\u003e, as well as niche blogs for a variety of policy issue areas, councils and specified audiences.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Last year, there was much much more focus on the blog; all Presidential events and Administrative happenings would be documented there,” said Amanda Stone, of ODS. “It meant much more time spent curating content and graphics specifically meant for the blog.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year, work has shifted toward empowering other offices to share their messages in a more human voice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"managed-by\"\u003eManaged by\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe main White House blog is managed by a content team that shares the responsibility of editing and finding fresh content, as well as training others. The White House uses an internal digital playbook that helps guide their best practices.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"future-direction\"\u003eFuture direction\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStone says, “We’re focusing on identifying the right content for each of our platforms, and the particular audiences that they satisfy. The blog is the place for longer form content that really dives into the specifics of an issue. It doesn’t receive the amount of visibility that, for example, a Facebook post or a Tweet might, but it’s for people who want more than that. We want to prioritize our resources so that we are curating engaging content that can be shared with the most people, but also giving people more information when they want more.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere are some of the things they think about with each post:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse an authentic voice, this isn’t a fact sheet\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStrive for quality: make your post well-formatted, with strong visuals to support\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse styles correctly so your blog is optimized for accessibility\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDon’t just post to post; ensure your content has a rollout strategy so that it has “legs” or a “vehicle” out of the building\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreate content that works well on social so it doesn’t live in obscurity\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"white-house8217s-top-5-posts-for-the-year\"\u003eWhite House’s Top 5 Posts for the Year\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/12/05/president-obama-addresses-nation-keeping-american-people-safe\"\u003ePresident Obama Talks About Keeping People Safe\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/10/01/watch-president-obamas-statement-shooting-oregon\"\u003eResponse to the Shooting in Oregon\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/01/08/president-proposes-make-community-college-free-responsible-students-2-years\"\u003eProposing Community College Free for Responsible Students for 2 Years\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/08/14/white-house-just-joined-spotify-listen-presidents-summer-playlist\"\u003eWhite House Just Joined Spotify\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/20/infographic-screening-process-refugee-entry-united-states\"\u003eInfographic of the screening process for refugee entry\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"nasa-multiple-blogs-for-multiple-voices\"\u003eNASA: Multiple Blogs For Multiple Voices\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt NASA they do not have a single or “main” blog for the agency, but they have many blogs managed by staff. Jason Townsend, Deputy Social Media Manager, states that their strategy is “to enable the ease of sharing content through a central \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.nasa.gov/\"\u003eblogs.nasa.gov\u003c/a\u003e site but with a myriad of authors and voices covering a wide range of topics.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis decentralized approach allows for an array of voices such as senior leadership, scientists, engineers and other teams of experts to share stories and build audiences. Each blog gives a different perspective and offers a look at NASA missions, milestones, science and history. Their most popular content tends to focus on human spaceflight, astronomy and real-time launch coverage updates.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/01/600-x-337-NASA-Blog-homepage-above-the-fold-Jan-11th-2016.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the NASA Blog homepage on January 11, 2016.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch3 id=\"structure-1\"\u003eStructure\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMultiple blogs targeted to different audiences. Their two most popular blogs for the year were the \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/\"\u003eSpace Station\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/\"\u003eSpaceX\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"managed-by-1\"\u003eManaged by\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany different people help add content to their numerous blogs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"future-direction-1\"\u003eFuture direction\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlogs will remain a powerful tool for spreading the messages, but a lot of effort continues to go into building out NASA.gov’s site content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"nasa8217s-top-5-blog-posts-for-the-year\"\u003eNASA’s Top 5 Blog Posts for the Year\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/bolden/tag/commercial-crew/\"\u003eAdministrator Bolden on Commercial Crew Astronauts\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/pluto/2015/09/18/art-meets-science-in-new-pluto-aerial-tour/\"\u003ePluto: Art Meets Science\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2015/01/23/marshall-scientist-to-observe-asteroid-2004-bl86/\"\u003eMarshall Scientist to Observe Asteroid\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/Rocketology/2015/09/17/four-lessons-in-four-years/\"\u003eSLS: Four Lessons in Four Years\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2015/01/07/next-spacex-launch-attempt-saturday-jan-10/\"\u003eSpace X Launch Attempt Jan 10\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"department-of-the-interior-a-new-blog-beginning\"\u003eDepartment of the Interior: A New Blog Beginning\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in August, the Department of the Interior (Interior) launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog\"\u003etheir new blog\u003c/a\u003e, and within a short period of time they’ve already seen great interaction. Rebecca Matulka, Senior Digital Media Strategist at Interior, remarks, “What is interesting is that we are noticing there is an appetite for blog content from Interior. Of the top 100 pages on Interior’s site for 2015 (Jan 1-Dec 17), seven of them are blog posts. It’s amazing to see content that we’ve only published two weeks ago going head-to-head with popular static pages that have huge search engine optimization.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInterior is known for their landscape photos and cute animals. They are now trying to put those to good use by talking about more substantive topics beyond travel and tourism with their blog.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/01/600-x-650-Dept-of-the-Interior-DOI-Blog-homepage-Jan-11th-2016.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the Department of the Interior Blog homepage on January 11, 2016.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch3 id=\"structure-2\"\u003eStructure\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne main blog that expands on popular social media posts, current events and important topics dealing with the Department of the Interior.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"managed-by-2\"\u003eManaged by\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe digital team at Interior manages the blog. They do most of the posting and work with the press team and others to find content to share.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"future-direction-2\"\u003eFuture direction\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey plan to continue using their blog to share what is interesting for their audience and figure out the best way to tell Interior’s story.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"interior8217s-top-5-posts-of-the-year\"\u003eInterior’s Top 5 Posts of the Year\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog/9-animals-are-feeling-impacts-climate-change\"\u003e9 Animals that Are Feeling the Impacts of Climate Change\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog/top-8-national-parks-instagram\"\u003eTop 8 National Parks on Instagram\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog/wisdom-oldest-living-banded-bird-returns-wildlife-refuge\"\u003eWisdom: Oldest Living Banded Bird Returns to Wildlife Refuge\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog/my-world-interrupted\"\u003eMy World Interrupted\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/blog/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-zion-national-park\"\u003e8 Things You Didn’t Know About Zion National Park\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"adapting-to-new-content-conditions\"\u003eAdapting to New Content Conditions\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome \u003ca href=\"http://www.prnewsonline.com/uncategorized/2015/12/22/five-pr-trends-to-look-for-in-2016/\"\u003epredictions\u003c/a\u003e say that this year will be the year for smart storytelling and that content marketing will reach saturation (meaning we’re hitting a point of too much noise). Whether your agency manages a number of blogs or one, now is a good time to set goals so that building out your content can continue to be an intentional part of your strategy. Remembering to adapt your content for the needs of your audience can be an important way to ensure it will remain valuable to readers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlogs remain a great way to increase storytelling and answer questions for people concerned or interested in work that may take more context to understand. At \u003ca href=\"http://www.fws.gov/\"\u003eU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\u003c/a\u003e, our blog is called \u003ca href=\"http://www.fws.gov/news/blog/\"\u003eOpen Spaces\u003c/a\u003e, and we often use it to be responsive and answer questions we receive on social media or in response to major events. The blog gives us an opportunity to show we’re listening our communities, and it also allows us to represent different views while providing more context to our work with wildlife.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/01/600-x-337-US-Fish-and-Wildlife-Service-USFWS-Blog-homepage-above-the-fold-Jan-11th-2016.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Blog homepage on January 11, 2016.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDoes your agency use a blog or multiple blogs?\u003c/strong\u003e What resources and lessons did you find most helpful this year? We’d love to know in the comments.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDanielle Brigida\u003c/strong\u003e is the National Social Media Manager for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She’s a wildlife geek who loves being outside and playing online with purpose.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInterested in more great content like this? Sign up for our \u003ca href=\"https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USHOWTO/subscriber/new\"\u003edaily or weekly DigitalGov newsletter\u003c/a\u003e!\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}