CIA follows the trail to Twitter
The US Central Intelligence Agency decided it was its turn to be followed on Friday, expanding its social media presence by joining Facebook and Twitter.
The surveillance agency more familiar with spying from the shadows quickly gained 182,000 followers on Twitter and 3,154 “likes” on Facebook by Friday afternoon.
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The CIA’s social media presence appeared to be more about putting a smiley face to a potentially sinister-sounding name than a sign that the secretive agency is becoming more transparent.
It could not resist having fun with its first tweet, posting “We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet”, referring to a typical response to a freedom of information act request which is not granted on national security grounds.But the blue verification tick next to its name confirmed that Twitter had certified the account as real.
The National Security Agency, which has been heavily criticised for its mass surveillance of the internet revealed in the Edward Snowden leaks, retweeted the CIA’s first tweet.
The NSA’s Twitter feed has far fewer followers at almost 11,000 and uses its account to share links on cyber security and commemorate the contribution from the military.
The CIA promised photos from the archives for “Throwback Thursday” – a term more commonly used for retro music playlists – and “fun facts” from the CIA World factbook, as well as news about their work and career postings.
Some on Twitter took offence at the light-hearted tone, with the New York Review of Books tweeting a list of what it claimed were the CIA’s interrogation techniques including beatings and restricting the consumption of food.
But others joked about the CIA knowing peoples’ passwords, and suggesting it should have joined one of the more secretive social networks which are emerging, such as Snapchat or Secret.
The CIA was welcomed by Ellen DeGeneres, the holder of the record for the most retweeted message ever for her selfie packed with celebrities at this year’s Oscars. “If it’s [sic] one thing I love about the CIA, it’s their sense of humor,” she tweeted.
The @CIA account – formerly held by the Cleveland Institute of Art, which had to deal with the confusion over its name and now has taken the handle @CleInstituteArt – follows just 25 others, predominately government agencies including the FBI and Homeland Security.
On Facebook, the CIA commemorated Americans who served their country on D-Day. The agency already had official accounts on Flickr, the Yahoo-owned image hosting platform, and YouTube, the Google-owned video site.
Founded in 1947 by President Truman, the CIA started work with pens, papers and telephones. But by the early 1960s it ws using automated information processing and had established a 24 hour operations centre.
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