Several US government agencies have been building their social media platforms, to include the NSA on Twitter in 2009, the FBI in 2008, and some early State Department adopters in 2007.  And now, in what might be the most surprising of agencies to join, the CIA has officially joined Facebook and Twitter. 

Earlier last month, the CIA sent its first tweet with the account @CIA, initiating the launch of its social media accounts.  While it might seem strange for the secretive spy agency to be reaching out on social media, it is clear that its leaders recognize how important and how present social media is to the public.  Through social media, the CIA will be better able to share non-classified information, to include news updates, statements, career information, and historical facts with their followers.  

By attempting to open itself up (within reason) to better connect to the American public, the CIA is hoping to lighten its public face by making their followers feel more connected to the otherwise shadowy government agency.  As CIA Director John Brennan stated, “We have important insights to share, and we want to make sure that unclassified information about the Agency is more accessible to the American public that we serve, consistent with our national security mission.”

And it appears to be working: their initial tweet, which read “We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.” was retweeted over 85,000 times in its first 2 hours, as well as garnering them over 105,000 followers.  Who knew spies had such a sense of humor? 

Original story appeared on CNN.com.  For additonal information, check out Mashable.