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accadacca
01-21-2017, 07:21 AM
Earlier today, we highlighted how the official Twitter account of the National Park Service teased the newly inaugurated president over the relatively small inauguration crowds he drew compared to Barack Obama in 2009.

Besides retweeting the mocking tweet about the crowds, whoever ran the account also retweeted someone else who pointed out that all references to climate change had been scrubbed from the official White House website with Donald Trump taking over the presidency. As we noted at the time, those two tweets were subsequently removed from the account’s timeline.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170121/1abd50abebd2f230365b4ed8495a43b3.png

Well, it appears that someone in the Trump Administration was none too happy with those tweets and has now told all National Park employees to stop using official Twitter accounts “until further notice.” In an email to staff obtained by Gizmodo, NPS workers were told they would need to find contingency plans to deal with this order

All: We have received direction from the Department through [the Washington Support Office] that directs all [Department of Interior] bureaus to immediately cease use of government Twitter accounts until further notice. PWR parks that use Twitter as part of their crisis communications plans need to alter their contingency plans to accommodate this requirement. Please ensure all scheduled posts are deleted and automated cross-platform social media connections to your twitter accounts are severed. The expectation is that there will be absolutely no posts to Twitter. In summary, this Twitter stand down means we will cease use of Twitter immediately. However, there is no need to suspend or delete government accounts until directed. This does not affect use of other approved social media platforms. We expect further guidance to come next week and we will share accordingly. Thanks for your help!

Gizmodo also stated that a park ranger told them that unofficially it was due to the two retweets.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/national-park-service-banned-from-using-twitter-after-trolling-trump/

Scott P
01-21-2017, 07:49 AM
To be fair, government employees are not supposed to be using government websites, accounts, or email to share political viewpoints. It's a big no-no if you work for the Feds or States (I used to work for the State of Colorado and several people got in trouble for this).

Even though I am no fan of Trump, what the National Park employee did was wrong and against the rules.

Iceaxe
01-21-2017, 08:19 AM
what the National Park employee did was wrong and against the rules.

^^^THIS^^^

Using the company account or company website to bash the company boss would be frowned upon in any industry. Such an act would get you fired immediately from most companies. The employee's responsible should just be happy they still have a job, because if they worked for anyone but the government they would now be kicking horse turds down the road.

This smells more of the media attempting to stir the shit then anything elses.

accadacca
01-21-2017, 08:24 AM
Snowflakes perhaps...

hank moon
01-21-2017, 09:01 AM
To be fair, government employees are not supposed to be using government websites, accounts, or email to share political viewpoints. It's a big no-no if you work for the Feds or States (I used to work for the State of Colorado and several people got in trouble for this).

Even though I am no fan of Trump, what the National Park employee did was wrong and against the rules.

Of course what the NPS person did was wrong - that's patently obvious and not newsworthy. The significance of this event is the ongoing confirmation that Trump cannot stomach the even slightest suggestion of a blemish to his self-image. Is he not the ultimate "snowflake" ?

rockgremlin
01-21-2017, 10:33 AM
Of course what the NPS person did was wrong - that's patently obvious and not newsworthy. The significance of this event is the ongoing confirmation that Trump cannot stomach the even slightest suggestion of a blemish to his self-image. Is he not the ultimate "snowflake" ?

That thing sailing over your head was not Halley's comet...

Brian in SLC
01-22-2017, 11:35 AM
From the NPS twitter feed:
We regret the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and look forward to continuing to share the beauty and history of our parks with you

Caught the tweet/retweet on social media when I left for Idaho Friday night. Came up in conversation with the CIRO park manager who mentioned it while logging into his NPS account. The City of Rocks in Idaho is a National Reserve under the NPS umbrella. The manager for CIRO is also the manager for the IDPR Castle Rocks State Park. The policies and management plans are different due to state v fed rules and reg's.

Anyhoo...we (CRAG "Climbers Resource Advisory Group" and the park folks we met with) all got a collective chuckle out of it.