GovLoop, the social networking site for federal employees, announced it signed up its 10,000th member in less than a year of operation. The site offers blogs, a forum, and communities of interest, the latter ranging from the serious (the "Communications Best Practices" group) to the lighthearted ("Dogs in Government" and "Muscle Cars").
Fellow blogger Alyssa Rosenberg points out on FedBlog, that 10,000 member represent about half a percent of the civilian federal workforce, "but the growth is a good sign at a time when folks may feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of social networking sites, and some metrics suggest that even if they're trying services like Twitter and abandoning them."
Steve Ressler, an information technology specialist at the Homeland Security Department, founded GovLoop. Here's a short YouTube video he recorded to commemorate the 10,000th milestone. (He also issued a traditional press release.)
COMMENTS
While I am not a frequent visitor to GovLoop, I have been impressed with the site and potential it offers.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic is the number of people who have signed up. Still, the numbers may also reflect a general tendency for public sector employees to be a little "slower" than employees in the private sector regarding tech issues and social networking issues as a whole.
I hope this is a fair assessment but interested in what others think.
Nick Mandel 05/04/09 04:02 pm ET