SSA to monitor social media sites
Agency wants to use information to respond to public expectations
Social Security Administration (SSA) officials plan to hire a
contractor to monitor what the public is saying about their agency on
social media Web sites such as MySpace, Twitter and YouTube, according
to a
contract request from SSA.
The
agency wants to monitor a type of information created and shared by the public
known as consumer-generated media, according to the
announcement made June 24.
SSA
wants a contractor to provide a Web-based tool to monitor and analyze
the data pulled from social media Web sites. The tool should be able to
provide analysis and data reporting in several categories such as the
topics and volume of discussions. SSA also wants to monitor the tone of
discussions, according to the announcement.
SSA officials also
want to know the types and number of communities that have discussions
about their agency.
The monitoring will cover blogs, social
networks, traditional media and video Web sites such as YouTube, the
announcement states.
“Listening to and leveraging such media is important for ensuring that
SSA can respond to the preferences and expectation of the public it
services,” the announcement states.
About the Author
Doug Beizer is a staff writer for Federal Computer Week.