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A study by Southeastern Louisiana University professor David Wyld for IBM's Center for the Business of Government found that government blogging "does take dedication and a bit of bravery."

Government Executives Need To Blog

Web 2.0: you make all the content. they keep all the revenue. -- the definition of Web 2.0 as seen on Bash.org via Reddit.

Professor Wyld would differ with this view, as he believes "interactivity among users is key" in Web 2.0. Government should be part of that as well, and blogging can help them.

A number of government functionaries from the federal level on down blog already, according to Wyld's report. He cited one blog as particularly curious: that of Iranian President Ahmadinejad. "His blog is in English and features polling and allows for comments," Wyld wrote.

Wyld's advice to government bloggers, beyond the dedication and bit of bravery already noted, includes posting at least two to three times a week. Authenticity matters, so farming out the blogging to a ghostwriter is not recommended.

As always, think first, blog second. Even those who choose not to blog should keep tabs on what is being said about them or their agencies by other bloggers, said Wyld.

He also noted how Marine General James Cartwright has pushed for an organizational blog. The commander of US Strategic Command wants a secure presence where anyone from the frontlines to the top brass can blog.

"The metric is what the person has to contribute, not the person’s rank, age, or level of experience," said Cartwright. "If they have the answer, I want the answer. When I post a question on my blog, I expect the person with the answer to post back."

"When al Qaeda can out maneuver you using Yahoo, we’ve got something wrong here," Cartwright also said, as cited by Wyld.

Blogging may help correct the communication issues that routinely bog down all sorts of government operations. For the non-military government functionary, blogging could be key to helping more people utilize an agency to its fullest.