Feds Go Off Message With Kardashian, Gaza Tweets

It looks like it's time for a little social media remedial training at the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department.

Thanks apparently to some sloppy Twitter account management, we know at least one person in EPA's Office of Water likes to play Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, the popular game app.

According to the Washington Post , a young fellow at the agency inadvertently triggered an auto-tweet when she forgot to log out of her government Twitter account before playing the game, presumably on a device she uses for work and play (BYOD strategists take note):

It was an amusing mistake (EPA sent out a tweet apologizing, thanking @KimKardashian for inadvertently bringing attention to clean water issues), but they don't always work out so well.

Over the weekend, the State Department's top communications strategist, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel, sent out this rather undiplomatic tweet:

Presumably he meant to use the #UnitedForUkraine hashtag. He later deleted the tweet and posted a new message noting his mistake (writing "My bad" in way of apology), but a lot of people weren't convinced that the pro-Gaza reference was really a mistake, especially given the sometimes rocky relationship the Obama Administration has had with Israel and Stengel's casual response to the firestorm he created on Twitter.

"My bad" indeed.

(Top image via DFree / Shutterstock.com )