The State Department has a Facebook page. And we the taxpayer paid for likes on that page.
State Department officials spent $630,000 to get more Facebook "likes," prompting employees to complain to a government watchdog that the bureau was "buying fans" in social media, the agency's inspector general says.
The department's Bureau of International Information Programs spent the money to increase its "likes" count between 2011 and March 2013.
"Many in the bureau criticize the advertising campaigns as 'buying fans' who may have once clicked on an ad or 'liked' a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further,"the inspector general reported.
The priorities our leadership think are important are not aligned with our own. Instead of jobs we get Facebook likes.
Instead of caring for our poor we get social media trolls waving the flag and stifling discussion.
Investigation document page twenty five addresses social media. But the entire document looks like the antics from the days of Twain have not changed. For example several thousand ereaders were sold to the taxpayer and shipped to embassies. Including embassies with no wifi to activate said readers.
Hey State Department, I'm sure you can get more likes if we spent less time dropping bombs on people from drones and bullying sovereign nations that don't fall in line.
H/T to LieparDestin