First WalMart, now the Feds have their own MySpace clone. Launched today, YoungFeds.org features blogs, message boards, video and career information. And yes, it kinda sucks.
Supported by the insurance company GEICO and the Council for Excellence in Government, YoungFeds aims to be a place for young government professionals to "meet, network and advance". The users are all under 35, and it seems you have to be a government worker to sign up. Features include profile pages, networks of friends, forums, blogging, calendars and the ability to find government employees in your area using a Facebook-style system. All this is tied together by some clunky web design that delivers plenty of "Page Not Found" errors. The site also features a group of guides - the so called "35
Just like Walmart calling their users "Hubsters", the Feds are trying hard to be cool. The content includes "ProFile", accounts of youngsters who are making a mark of government, and BrandU, a summary of an important topic in government that features a university-inspired logo. That said, there are some signs that the Feds understand what's hot: the "Sound Bytes" section includes podcasts and the ability to add videos from YouTube. They're also documenting their progress on a blog. Other content includes advice from federal officials about how to be successful, and a "Working Points" column that provides advice on the day-to-day like of a government worker. Also look out for "the Gauge", a polling feature powered by CoolWebToys.
Once the tech community find out about the launch, they're bound to pan it. A social network for Feds sounds like they're trying too hard to be cool, and the fact that the site is poorly built just adds to the problem. A network for the Feds isn't the lamest idea ever, but the execution of that idea is pretty bad.
