What If @NASA Crossed 5 Million Followers and No One Was There to Tweet It
NASA retweeted an astronaut's photo of the setting moon in August. NASA via Twitter
By
Joseph Marks
It happened about a week into the shutdown.
Even though most government social media accounts aren’t being updated due to the partial shutdown, the public is still checking them out.
NASA’s main Twitter handle passed 5 million followers on Monday, making it the first government agency profile to scale a height usually reserved for the likes of Queen Latifah and Chelsea Handler.
NASA passed the milestone about a week into the government shutdown, though, so, with 98 percent of its staff on furlough, there was no one around to mark the occasion.
The U.S. Navy’s Facebook page is approaching 1 million “likes,” but looking forward to what it calls a “muted” celebration.
Managers of those accounts bemoaned the fact that they wouldn’t be able to celebrate the milestones earlier this week.
@jtowns @USNavy is approaching 1 million on Facebook and its birthday. Shutdown may mute social media celebrations.
— Jason Kelly (@JasonKellyPAO) October 8, 2013
@JasonKellyPAO I hear you. We won't be celebrating this at all due to the shutdown.
— Jason Townsend (@jtowns) October 8, 2013
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