Could a government shutdown silence Congress on Facebook?

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

A federal government shutdown could close the National Zoo, Smithsonian museums and national parks. It could also reveal which members of Congress are social media whizzes and which ones lean on staffers for their tweets and updates.

If a shutdown were to come to pass, thousands of furloughed government workers deemed ‘nonessential’ might have to turn in their BlackBerrys, the Washington Post reports.

That could prove painful in an era when smartphones are a constant companion and stay close even when workaholics sleep (after all, the device is nicknamed is the Crackberry).

‘I’m not sure I could handle it,’ Kevin Bishop, communications director for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), told the Post. ‘It’s basically a part of who you are, from the moment you wake up in the morning to the moment you go to bed at night.’

It’s still unclear how a ban on BlackBerry use would be implemented if congressional leaders fail to reach an agreement on the federal budget. One idea being floated around requires workers to turn in their government-issued phones before exiting, the Post said. But it’s unclear how carefully the government has tracked the handout of phones over the years.

This could mean that the Facebook pages and Twitter feeds of some congressional members will go silent, speculates Ben Smith at Politico, separating the true socia media savants from those with savvy employees.

Politicians have increasingly embraced social media to address their constituents directly. Facebook has also geared up its presence in Washington, sending staffers around town to show organizations how to take advantage of its network and flying executives in to discuss privacy and other hot-button topics with lawmakers, a Times story reported in February.

RELATED:

Obama tech dinner: Company spending figures for D.C. lobbying, campaign contributions

Facebook raises $1.5 billion, about $1 billion of it overseas, will share financials by April 2012

Homeland Security to issue terror alerts on Facebook, Twitter; nix color system

-- Shan Li