Government is business and The Federal Conservatives have decided some of their employees can no longer participate on the social networking site Facebook. It’s a loose lips sink ships policy. Stephen Taylor tries to put a positive spin on it.

Facebook, perhaps the most popular social networking site in the world where one can build a network among friends, acquaintances and professionals is to no longer be used by Conservative ministerial exempt staff.

Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long. Facebook pages are like semi-private blogs that can include off-colour comments by colleagues, photos from last night’s bender and can even display deeply personal details such as one’s relationship status and sexual preference. Blogs understandably represented a communications challenge amongst a team that prides itself on tight messaging. Facebook not only represents this same challenge, but also has the potential for being a rich back-channel for opposition researchers, among others.

On the other hand Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has embraced it. He currently has over 7 thousand friends. (The Liberal government of Ontario has banned  on site use for all government employees)  Stephane Dion’s Facebook/YouTube campaign is a kind of internet fireside chat. Even though you know he has people to set this all up for him, it comes across well. 

So, what do you think? Is this decision to limit internet contact useful to a political party?