*Which is to say, exactly the right amount of fun
As a former state employee, I can confirm any suspicions you might have that working for the government, even as a creative, isn’t the most creatively inspiring job. The work tends to be fairly workaday, and one often finds oneself making one’s own fun. Depending on the actual state organization, of course, the amount of available fun does vary (says the woman who worked for a state university and health system that does its best but really does have to keep levity to a reasonable level). But the social media teams behind these five Twitter accounts clearly have been cut loose to have a good time, and to share it with followers to offer more than the standard sewer system status update.
NE Ohio Regional Sewer District
Yeah, you heard me. The sewer system. Of course, arguably, if you’re doing social media for a sewer system, you’re going to have to inject some level of fun just from a survival perspective, but these folks clearly have a good time. It’s a great blend of humor, history, useful information, and unexpectedly heartfelt messages.
That said, you know I’m a sucker for the snark.
And also:
When an opportunity arises, they are on top of it. They’re funny and snarky and also sincere and heartwarming, and I have nothing but admiration for a team of creatives with big hearts and funny brains and management who are up for saying, “Yeah, that sounds exactly like the brand we’re going for.”
Washington Emergency Management Division
The team at WAEMD tends to play it a little straighter than some of their government cousins, but they’re still always game for a good meme, reaction gif, or well-meaning snark. They clearly have fun while being informative, whether you need information about important topics like volcanoes, fire prevention, or the most important things to leave out of your emergency preparedness kit.
(And also stuff like, y’know, what part of the state is on fire at any given moment, and stuff. It can’t all be funny.)
(In other news, though, am I the only person who didn’t know the “No Internet” page IS ALSO A GAME? I’m always the last to learn about cool things.)
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
If you don’t see the words “U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission” and immediately think “trippy Photoshop work,” that’s because you lack imagination and faith in the twisted minds of the commission’s social media team. They clearly put a good twenty, even thirty minutes into each creation, and that’s why this warning about lithium-ion batteries is going to haunt my nightmares.
Auburn, Washington, and Kent, Washington (both, and either)
The respective social media teams of adjacent Auburn and Kent, Washington, are entertaining enough on their own. But we love a good beef, and the good-natured shit-talking between the two cities is just another example of how much better everything is when we work together.
(Aw, look, Kent, Auburn made you something.)
New Jersey
And if we’re talking rivalries, I also have to give a shout out to the State of New Jersey Twitter team just for the sincere passion with which they seem to hate Delaware.
Good enough for government work
Good enough for agency work, in fact, says I. I’m not actually in any of the service areas of any of those organizations (except for the nightmare fuel of the USCPSC), but I think I might follow NEORSD anyway just for the deftly executed butt humor.
And in honor of butt humor, and of the new year, I want to close with this reminder, also from NEORSD.
Happy New Year, y’all.