Despite the hype around government agencies that have begun blogging, I’m not a huge fan. Quite a few government agencies (especially in the US) have started them but, in my opinion, very few  do a good job at creating something other than a new medium for press releases. A blog that doesn’t acknowledge the responses or comments that it attracts is doomed for irrelevance. Luckily there’s a couple of government agencies are using blogs to open up real, two-way communication channels between their staff and the citizens they serve. The best of the bunch being the Transportation Safety Authority’s Evolution of Security blog.

I made these same comments last week at a presentation I did for the 2008 Government Web Managers conference and made specific reference to the blog hosted by the US Office of Citizen Services and Communications, Gov Gab. It’s a good first step in terms of providing reliable tips on service-related issues but I noted that what they might want to do is take a page from the TSA and ask their readers what the big ticket items they should be addressing are.

Low and behold they’ve listened (!) and today they’ve asked US citizens to tell them what they want their blog to address. So here’s your chance to get them to listen and focus on your ideas, complaints and concerns – so join the conversation here.