Tweet Blackout For Federal Agencies, Organizations As Government Shuts Down
Not only are offices closed, but so are their Twitter accounts.
Oct. 1, 2013 — -- The federal government is now partially shut down for the first time in almost 18 years. Many government employees are not working and in some cases entire offices are outright closed.
And now, so are their Twitter and social media accounts.
It might not be one of the consequences you would have thought of but as employees in those offices who maintain the Twitter and Facebook accounts are not working, the tweets and the updates will cease until the shutdown, well, also ceases.
Below are some of the agencies and organizations that have tweeted out plans to shut down their Twitter accounts, and thus stop providing updates.
NASA's AsteroidWatch
How will we know if an asteroid is headed for earth? NASA's @asteroidwatch won't be the place until the shutdown is over.
NASA's Voyager
The NASA Voyager account will also stop sending tweets, but that doesn't mean the Voyager is heading home. While 97 percent of NASA will be furloughed during a shutdown, the exception to the rule will be astronauts in space, who keep working, shutdown or no shutdown. Mission Control, which supports them, will also be working.
U.S. Capitol
Parts of the U.S. Capitol are closed, including the @uscapitol Twitter account.
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is one of the federal tourist attractions impacted by the shutdown and you can't visit the landmark through Twitter either.
National Zoo
The National Zoo, too. Not only will the account not be firing off photos of the cute animals but it has also pulled down its "panda cam" feed.
LBJ Library
The same goes for the LBJ Library's active Twitter and Tumblr accounts, which usually send out quotes from and photos of Lyndon B. Johnson.
FAA Safety Briefing
The account dedicated to updating followers about flying safety and news is no longer doing that.
The National Science Foundation
The NSF will reduce its workforce from roughly 2,000 to just 30 during the shutdown. Because of that reduced workforce no one will be updating the @NSF Twitter account.
Dept. of Agriculture
Nothing from the USDA either.
Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this channel will not be updated until the federal government reopens. — Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) October 1, 2013
And some more...