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The Coast Guard Gets It: Goes Web 2.0 to Serve the Public
The Coast Guard near Morro Bay | Photo by Mike Baird via Flickr
Yesterday evening, the local United States Coast Guard Sector entered a new era of public information by launching a blog. This is "a revolution on how we deal with information management and the new social media, or some people call it, Web 2.0.," Admiral Thad W. Allen sternly said in a video. "We are not living in the same information environment we grew up in, it's critically important that senior leaders of the United States Coast Guard understand what technology is doing today, how it is changing, how we must change with it."
Like with the Transportation Security Administration's blog where they solicit feedback on the public's experiences (their most recent post clarifies photography at airport screening checkpoints), the Coast Guard wants efforts to be a two way street, too. In addition to sharing basics like recent mission activites and daily operations--their first post is about a visit to USC's Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber--they want the public's feedback on ideas for content or questions they have.
Despite being named the Los Angeles-Long Beach sector, they are responsible for everything between the San Luis Obispo/Monterey County Line south to the San Diego/Orange County line. That's 320 miles of shoreline and 64,000 square miles total.
Knowing that, what would you like to ask them?
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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