FBI now on Facebook, Twitter

Washington, Jan 9 : The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has laid down roots on popular social media sites—Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and iTunes—and started generating dynamic news feeds that can be plugged into and read through various applications, readers, and webpages.

According to a FBI statement, more than 35 million people visited the FBI website last year.

"But many of you prefer your own corners of the Internet, whether it's a personal webpage, blog, networking site, or some other space. That's why in recent years we've worked to bring our information to where you are in the online world," said the statement.

"We've built a series of widgets that let you host our news, fugitives, missing kids, and other content on your website or blog. We've laid down roots on popular social media sites—Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and iTunes—and started generating dynamic news feeds that can be plugged into and read through various applications, readers, and webpages. And we've launched an e-mail alert service that now has nearly 150,000 subscribers, bringing our latest information right to your inbox or wireless device".

Highlights of the FBI statement:

Video Widget: For months, you've been able to watch our many feature videos on this website or on YouTube. Now, you can watch them wherever you want in cyberspace—thanks to our new video widget.

The widget includes thumbnail images of all our videos and is dynamically updated every time we add a new video to the collection.

Facebook Quiz: We launched a Facebook page last May, and today it has more than 13,000 fans, making it one of the most popular federal government sites. As part of our outreach, we recently created and launched our first app, a light-hearted quiz to determine what kind of FBI career best suits you: Special agent? IT professional?Intelligence analyst? Even the FBI Director? The quiz, also available on the iPhone app, has been taken more than 1,200 times since it was released in early December. But it's just for fun—to apply for a job and learn more about our career paths, visit the FBI Jobs website.

Mobile Phone App: Last February, a Kansas City company called NIC created a free iPhone and iTouch app—inspired by our Most Wanted Fugitives widget—featuring our fugitives and breaking news. By downloading the app, you can see pictures of and get details on missing kids and wanted criminals and terrorists...and then call in or e-mail tips straight from your phone. A recent update can identify your location (with your permission) through your phone's GPS capabilities and provide directions and contact information for your nearest FBI office.

The application has been downloaded more than 670,000 times in over 74 countries, including Russia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. NIC Inc. was founded by a former law enforcement officer. "We wanted to make this information as widely available as possible," said Nolan Jones, a director at NIC. "We've been extremely happy with the success of this app."