Top 10 agencies on Twitter

Proving that you don't have to be Ashton Kucher to have a large following on Twitter, some federal agencies are getting the word out to their fans one tweet at a time. Take a look at the most popular tweeters mentioned in this year's Federal List:

1. The White House
Followers: 1,071,927
The White House began to Twitter in May and now boasts more than a million followers for regular updates on comings and goings there, in addition to folksy asides.

2. CDC Emergency
Followers: 808,979
The agency's feed is a perfect example of how important Twitter will be in the future for getting information to the public during emergencies, with swine flu updates a current focus.

3. NASA
Followers: 125,901
NASA tweets about shuttle missions, tales of astronaut derring-do, and links to astounding pictures and stories of deep space galactic discoveries. ‘Nuf said!

4. U.S. Army
Followers: 14,263
The service delivers a constant river of daily snippets about the men, women and institutions that drive its global enterprise.

5. Smithsonian
Followers: 12,711
The world’s largest museum complex has some excruciatingly intriguing tweets: “Abduction-turned-assassination planned in former woman-owned boarding house. Owner? Plotter? Victim?”

6. FDArecalls
Followers: 11,663
Find instant notifications about the Food and Drug Administration’s product recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts.

7. GSA/USA.gov
Followers: 10,918
GSA provides a central outlet for up-to-date announcements about official government news and information.

8. NIH
Followers: 9,314
The National Institutes of Health give people a slew of announcements on important research that regularly come from the nation’s leading medical research authority.

9. HHS/Office on Women’s Health
Followers: 9,015
People can find tips and pointers for women about how they can improve and maintain their health, along with links to updates on relevant medical conditions as determined by the Health and Human Services Department.

10. State Department/DipNote
Followers: 8,110
A must-read for all foreign policy wonks, this Twitter feed provides links to all of the State Department’s public activities, along with current activities of note in other countries.

Did we miss any? Let us know who else you follow by submitting a comment below.

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Reader comments

Thu, Sep 24, 2009 Matt Raymond

Yes, the Library of Congress has almost 16,000.

Mon, Sep 14, 2009 Steve Lunceford

I guess it depends how you look at it, but some NASA IDs (agency components, not individuals) such as @AstrobiologyNAI and @asteroidwatch actually have more followers than @NASA. And @librarycongress ranks up ahead of @usarmy. Check out http://govtwit.com/list/all/tags/agencies for a list of 400+ agencies and individuals from agencies.

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