Open NASA Advocate Has A Closed Strategy

OK; someone help me understand. This guy Nick Skytland; what REAL work does he do other than TWITTER??? I'd like to see any real work he has accomplished (PowerPoint Slides don't count).

Inquiring minds (and taxpayers) want to know....

It's such a joke Nick and his Gen Y cry. He does not understand the way the government does business and the reality of managing civil service or programs. The kid is just a NASA fan that has a an irrelevant job. I want to see him come to DC to wake up and smell the coffee of how an agency works. I remember talking to some of Nick's cohorts (I've never talked to Nick) in the Gen Y pitch and they were all saying how Orion will launch in 2013 (When CxP had the internal IOC 2013 and external IOC 2015). You just had to shake your head that these kids have a lot to learn.

I was able to 'follow' him just fine...

Editor's note: Nick has specifically blocked me from following him on Twitter.

If it isn't an official NASA twitter - if it's his personal twitter account - what's the problem? It's disappointing, but he has no obligation to you.

Editor's note: Nick Skytland is a NASA civil servant and what he does during work hours is supposed to be for the benefit of the taxpayers who pay his salary. Since Nick is twittering during business hours about his participation in an official NASA activity that he has helped organize as part of his salaried duties - one that has use of social networking at its core - his Twittering is official NASA business and he cannot deny taxpayers full unfettered access to it - period.

"Since Nick is twittering during business hours [...]"

Ahh, I did not consider that. I'll have to agree with your position now. I wonder if he realizes the responsibility he accepted when twittering for NASA. It really isn't just his personal NASAfan twitter - a distinction I failed to notice.

@ Readdy Kilowatt

"The kid is just a NASA fan that has a an irrelevant job. I want to see him come to DC to wake up and smell the coffee of how an agency works."

Are you suggesting that 'work' actually gets done at NASA HQ in DC?

All us hard working engineers are spooling away on on mission that is never going to happen because of you. My job is irrelevant because of you!!!

@Readdy Kilowatt:

How about sending him out in the real world to a center that does real work, rather then HQ, and see how long he lasts doing flight ops.

NASA needs to replace its twits with folks that will do substantive work on govt time. Ditto NASA contractors when they are working on govt paid time.

Of course when this is encouraged at the highest levels what do you expect? Will our new leadership do anything about it?

What a joke we have become - social networking about things instead of building or solving them.

Excuse me?

"Nick Skytland is a NASA civil servant [...]"

Even civil servants are explicitly allowed to make a limited amount of personal use of the Internet (and the phone, and so forth) during business hours, just like anyone else. This is clearly spelled out in the NASA IT trainings that I sat through many times.

"Since Nick is twittering [...] about his participation in an official NASA activity [...]"

You've used the key word twice now: *about*. Everyone talks *about* their jobs with friends and family, and not all of those communications are open to the public just because Nick is a public servant.

"[...] the responsibility he accepted when twittering for NASA."

If someone use the telephone as a part of official government work, does that mean that they can no longer also place personal phone calls? Of course not.

Nick uses his personal Twitter account as a way to share things that he finds interesting with his friends. Most of it is re-tweets of things other people have said or links to material that NASA or other organizations have publicly released online. He does not use his Twitter account to conduct NASA business, but instead merely to talk *about* his life to his friends, family, and followers.

Advocating for openness and transparency in government does not mean abdicating your right to personal privacy.

Editor's note: Nick is a civil servant - an employee of the federal government. He set this event up at work as part of his job. He is telling people (co-workers, taxpayers) about it as it happens while at work. What he does while on salary as part of his official duties belongs to all taxpayers. This is not "personal". He's not calling his wife or talking about the weather. He is officially communicating about a task at work. If I were to file a FOIA for his presentation and all associated communication, NASA would be required to give it to me. If it was personal, they would not. I wonder what their response will be if I file a FOIA request?

Twitter from work he appears to do, but twit he appears to be.

Dude, it's Friday night. Chill out.

The guy is just confused and needs one account for personal use and another account for public use. he is mixing his monkeys.

Editor's note: exactly.

You can chill out all you want on this fine Friday evening. I'm waiting for Monte Carlos to complete so I can start the next round. In the interim, I respectfully reserve the right to be pissed off.

Most of the info on this site is timely and useful. Much of it is factual. Some of it is even in good spirits. When it is negative, emotional or contains personal attacks, the source is usually an adamant disagreement, and [most of the time] is understandable.

This seems different to me. He blocked someone on twitter. Is this a taxpayer issue or something personal? Seems like an awful lot of "editor" attention on this thread during Discovery's launch day and 3 days before Augustine is over with.

OK, granted, I can see how this could seem like a big issue. Twitter, the government, FOIA and all. We're at the cusp of huge changes in the way we look at openness in the government. But this is new to everyone. The legal issues are still being worked out, and there's opportunity to be part of the solution. Seems to me that Nick is trying to be part of that solution, and maybe he just chooses to ignore those who (in his mind) don't have something constructive to add.

I really like comparing the two of you to Obama and Hillary. They seemed to hate each others' guts, then they partner to make the country better. I hope that partnership forms someday - after you can work out the little stuff.

I find the comments by many of the commenters rather sad. While I can understand Keith's frustration with Nick, I know many of the rest of you have not met him yet are saying denigrating things about him. Having met and worked with him on a few things, I've always been amazed by his helpfulness and willingness to make things work. Of course I'm not running a site with the purpose of questioning his employer.



And as far as his work, while it may not be the hard engineering that many of us do, he's doing things that someone needs to do, and that I know I wouldn't want to do. Explaining generational differences (gross generalities by necessity) is important. Taking advantage of new communications technologies to communicate with the public is important. "Participatory Exploration" may be a fuzzy concept that doesn't directly contribute anything to specific missions, but public outreach and participation are necessary for public support, and I'm glad Nick is looking into the details of what it entails. We don't need a huge number of people doing these things, but having a few people like Nick is due diligence and I'm glad he's there.

- Brian Young

Keith, this is really pretty silly. His stream is public and you can read whatever it is that he writes, be the better man and just drop it already. I think a FOIA request is pretty pointless since it's already publicly available information. Your site it so much enjoyable to read without these personal vendettas that you have against certain individuals like Nick Skytland. Focus on what everyone really comes to this site for, which is NASA gossip and dirt. Move on please.

Editor's note: NASA pays this guy and others to stress "openness" at NASA and then he organizes these events as part of his official job and blocks people from participating? No, I will not move on. If there is a "personal vendetta" at work here it is certainly not me who is carrying it.

Then file a FOIA and move on.

My interns that worked at NASA this summer posted some of what they did (work related content) on their Facebook accounts. They were paid with taxpayer money. Are they obligated to friend you or accept your friend request because of that? Seems kinda silly to me.

I find it ironic that you cut the guy down and then are upset when he blocks you.

@ Brian.Young....

I respectfully disagree with your comment.

Nick's "job" sounds too much to me like one of those made-up "make-work" jobs that seem to be prevalent in NASA these days that does not have one thing to do with space exploration. The fact I am funding that "job" (and probably a whole of others similar to it) as a taxpayer makes me shake my head in disgust.

It seems to me that NASA Watch is becoming like a gov't watchdog. I don't know Nick but I don't this is the place to make a lot of personal attacks on the guy. Keith, if you have a problem you should just report the guy to the appropriate authorities such as the JSC IG.

Editor's note: "personal attacks"? Nick sits at his desk and specifically blocks me from having the access to his NASA work - work that he openly encourages others to observe via Twitter. Indeed, encouraging the wider use of social networking at NASA is part of his job!

Keith, I understand your point. What I don't understand is the need to air it out on NASA Watch. As I said, report it to the proper authorities.

Editor's note: Nick has been prominent in speaking out, as part of his job as a NASA employee, about openness and use of social networking tools at NASA. He has gone to great lengths to promote these ideas online. As such, I think it is totally appropriate to inform my readers, many of whom work at NASA, when a proponent of such online openness is not practicing what he preaches.

But you can see his tweets at-
http://twitter.com/skytland

What's the problem?

Editor's note: Nick has specifically blocked me from following him on Twitter - yet he allows others to follow him. In this instance he was Twittering as an overt part of doing NASA work during NASA work hours while onsite at NASA. In such situations he simply cannot decide which taxpayers can follow his Tweets and which ones cannot.

Keith, did you not go through this about 6 months ago? Was it just a slow news day that you decided to beat a dead horse some more?

http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/03/do_as_i_say_not_3.html

This is nothing new, its been your little piss on Nick as much as you can game that you have been playing for a year now.

Just get off it and report NEWS, not your pettly little personal differences with anyone and everyone. This stuff just makes you, NASAWatch, SpaceRef, and everything else you are involved in look more unprofessional.

Editor's note: and of course you lecture me from behind the cloak of anonymity. You're welcome.

"NASA pays this guy and others to stress 'openness' at NASA", "encouraging the wider use of social networking at NASA is part of his job!", "as part of his job as a NASA employee,"

You continue to attack Nick with the assumption that his "open" initiatives and associated efforts to bring transparency to aspects of his job at NASA are in some way his official, assigned duties. Do you have a copy of his employment agreement to back up these claims?

"The kid is just a NASA fan that has a an irrelevant job"

I know what Nick does at JSC and it is meaningful, useful work supporting astronaut health.

"organizes these events as part of his official job "

I know Nick personally and have seen how much time he spends *off the clock* (after work, during lunch, on days off) pulling together events, ideas, and people to create a more friendly and inclusive community at his workplace. He is doing exactly what you ask in your header: "Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU."

"What he does while on salary as part of his official duties belongs to all taxpayers. [...] He is officially communicating about a task at work."

The astronauts on the ISS likely email their families about life in orbit. They are on the clock, talking about their work, yet none of us get to read about it! Are you planning to file FOIA paperwork on those personal correspondences too? What about the conversations between astronauts that are not captured on audio? Do we need those too? Where do we draw the line between relevant and absurd?

I am disappointed that you are using your position in the media as a platform to make what are obviously personal, targeted attacks. Your work with the Challenger Center and other organizations makes a great contribution to our community. This line of attack does not honor the spirit of NASA Watch or reflect positively on any of your activities.

I encourage you to re-evaluate your intentions and objectives in this line of attack. This does not encourage anyone inside NASA to innovate, communicate, or share their passion for space.

~Tim

Editor's note: A NASA Civil servant is using his position to deny a taxpayer full access to what my tax dollars are paying him to do. Moreover he preaches about "openness" at the same time. This is simply wrong - and it sets a hypocritical standard for all that he says and does. Why should anyone pay attention to him when he does not follow his own recommendations? He was not "off the clock" when he did this bar camp. The photos clearly show sunlight outside as he and all the other JSC employees participated and his Tweets were made during regular working hours.

As for dragging in things that I do that do not relate to NASA Watch, my commentary relates to a NASA civil servant and what they do in that capacity. I made zero mention of anything outside of that. For you to drag irrelevant things in like this and post personal insults negates any points that you might have to add to this conversation.

Keith,
Didn't he block you a long time ago and you complained? Did he unblock and reblock you, if so that would be interesting for about 9 seconds. If you have been blocked once by him several months ago and are still blocked, then GET OVER IT.

Can you prove he blocked you while at work? Can you prove that he is twittering while on the time clock, and what I mean by that is this; if he was at work for only 8 hours and only 5 days each week and was paid for 40 hours and twittered, then yes, he twittered while at work.

BUT

I am sure that he is at work more than JUST 8 hours and quite often more than JUST 5 days yet he only gets paid for 40 hours. So, in this scenario he might have been on site, at work from 8 am to 6pm (10 hours) but while walking to a meeting, eating lunch or just a 5 minute break during the day, he tweeted
"One of the coolest things about twitter is how you can follow a shuttle launch even when offline. Thanks for the updates everyone! #sts128"

So that maybe minute it took him to type the message, was he on or off the clock? Who knows, but he was probably off the clock for that minute.

When you worked at NASA so many years ago, I am sure you took a private call or two while at work or sent and received a private email while at work where you probably said to the other person something about your job. Can I please have a transcript of all those calls and emails.

I thought not, so shut up and move on.

Editor's note: again, its so nice to sit there and lecture me without ever having to use your name, now isn't it? As for your curious understanding of what it means to be on the clock when you are a civil servant, you might want to check on that ... you seem to be imagining the sort of flex time that people only dream of having at NASA ....

There might be some valid points made here, but they
are largely lost in the noise.

I don't know whether the Twitter account in question is NASA's or his own, nor do I know whether he was tweeting from work or not, nor whether it was "official" or "unofficial." Nor do I know the full scope of Nick's job.

What I *do* know is that personal attacks against Nick (or anyone else) are completely inappropriate here.

Not to say that all comments here were flames -- but some were, and they were out of line.

In my limited contact with Nick, I have always found him to be intelligent, competent, honest, and personable. I consider him a valuable member of the space advocacy community.

Hal Fulton

Editor's note: I agree that many of the comments are noise. Those who think that use of social networking is irrelevant are clearly not in tune with how the world is changing and how things are done outside of the NASA gate. They will soon be left in the dust. Nick works very hard and clearly has a passion for space that others would do well to emulate. BUT, he simply cannot stand up and push for "openness" as a government employee and then turn around and hand pick which taxpayers will and will not have full access to what he is doing with their tax dollars as he pushes for that "openness".

Keith, I am very ashamed to say I follow NASA watch now. You seem to have some very personal beef with Nick, which, instead of handling it like an adult, you go and complain like a 5 year old child to the entire NASAwatch crowd. I don't know what Nick did to piss you off, but what you have done here is completely inappropriate!

If Nick did indeed block you off his twitter, after seeing the way you are attacking him, I can understand why and I applaud him for doing so.

Editor's note: So ... you condone the use of one's personal biases with regard to specific taxpayers in the conduct of an official government position? That's certainly odd. As for being "ashamed" - you can resolve that rather easily simply by not reading NASA Watch.

Nope, don't condone it...just saying I can understand why it may have been done after seeing the way you use nasawatch to personally attack people like him; people who are trying to make things change for the better. I am suggesting that you try to talk to him (a concept that many people, even myself, forget about in these online and twitter times) instead of blatantly attacking him.

Nick has a great passion for what he does and I have met very few people with his level of dedication and time to creating a "better, more innovative and open nasa." And, no, he is not infallible, but he is a great advocate for space and works a lot harder than many government employees I have met.

Editor's note: Excuse me - but I only commented about being blocked AFTER I was being blocked by Nick. You seem to have cause and effect reversed. This has nothing to do with Nick's obvious enthusiasm - something I admire. Rather, it has to do with a civil servant singling out a taxpayer and denying them the same level of access to their work as they openly accord to others. As for talking to Nick, well, this is not the first time he has done something like this, so "talking" does not seem to work.

Kieth,

Let's face it, you have burnt so many bridges at NASA-JSC through your general anti-NASA, and particularly anti-JSC, vitriol that I'm genuinely shocked that you're surprised that JSC's outreach guy blocked you. I mean, how many people have you told to buzz-off if they don't appreciate your POV?

Editor's note: sorry, but civil servants are simply not supposed to do that in the conduct of their official duties.

Here's an example; a few years ago, you criticized Aldrin for selling his Apollo 11 tooth-brush--arguing that atronauts are just civil servants and shouldn't be allowed to sell gov't property for their own gain. When I commented that as astronaut Buzz should be cut some slack, you told me that if I didn't like what you wrote I could go elsewhere. You can't dish-out that sort of treatment and never expect to get it blow-back.

Maybe you told Nick to blow-off and didn't know it? In any case, Nick has blocked you on Twitter, he's not covered by anything like the Open Meetings Act, so deal with it. All this complaining in the open makes you appear as though you are a bit thin skinned.

Despite being told by you to take my marbles and play elsewhere more times than I can count, I continue to tune-into NasaWatch because you usually have the latest news. And the reason I, and many others, are trying to offer constructive criticism, but doing so anonymously, is because frankly we are worried that we will be blocked by you. None-the-less, we comment because we view NasaWatch as a real asset to the space community.

I know, I know...if I don't like your public complaint against Nick, I can go elsewhere.

Editor's note: Yes, I do exercise selective blocking of comments on rare instances where profanity or personal threats are involved. I am much more inclined to block anonymous threats than I am ones that have full attribution (i.e. someone's name). That said, I let you dump all over me without even knowing who you are - and even though you can't seem to spell my name properly.

Have a nice day!

Keith,

You're missing the point. You _CAN_ follow what Nick posts and have open access to his work just like everyone else at-
http://twitter.com/skytland
feed://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/11197712.rss

I post things on Facebook and Tweet, sometimes about work sometimes on the clock but I'm under no obligation to accept every friend and follow request I get just like I don't cc: the world on emails I sent at NASA.

Editor's note: You are missing MY point. I cannot put him in my feed and follow him like I do other people. THAT is the whole point behind Twitter in the first place. He has blocked me from following. Yes, I can manually enter the address, but why is this civil servant specifically denying me the same capabilities that he affords other taxpayers?

I just wanted to address a few comments made so far:

- Nick's prime responsibilities at JSC, as Tim stated above, are as a project manager on several life sciences-related studies. So, it isn't factual to state that his main job is to help NASA be more innovative, open, etc. After all, I think you all will agree that those are means to an end, rather than being an end itself. He has been working tirelessly to incorporate those types of practices into his studies, so that he can, step-by-step, help the center and agency become more innovative, open, participatory, etc.



- Keith, I think in the last round of this same discussion a few months ago, you stated that Nick blocking you from his Twitter meant that you weren't able to receive his status updates in your timeline. So, that means that you can still go to his main Twitter feed and still see what he's said, correct? If that is the case, I think that only means he's made it one-level complicated for you to get to his updates, not that you are blocked entirely - which probably means (and I say probably, because I don't know a whole lot about this type of legal policy) that he hasn't actually done anything in violation of the policies dictated by his civil service.



- Lastly, I see this topic come up every few months, in variations, for quite some time now - all centered around Nick. I understand that you take issue with what transpired, but at some point, if these postings are doing nothing to make happen what you think should happen...doesn't that say something? Just a thought to chew on...

Editor's note: Nick has specifically put an impediment in place between me and access to Twittering he does as part of his official duties. As far as this part of NASA goes, he has sought to make it less open to me. The hypocrisy of this is clear when you consider that Nick is constantly talking in an official capacity as a NASA civil servant about the need for NASA to be more open - something that he and I agree upon. He continues to speak out as an advocate of an "open" NASA and yet he continues to block me from open access to postings he makes as part of his job. As such, I continue to complain.

Keith,

First, my apologies for misspelling your name. And I haven't "dumped" on you. Dumping upon someone and trying to offer constructive criticism are not the same.

So, Nick's blocking you. Maybe he shouldn't. But, really, do you think going after Nick with such a pejorative tone via a very public forum, obviously insouciant to its effects, is going to yield a positive result? You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.

Being a "taxpayer" and a nickel won't get you a cup of coffee. Being a taxpayer is no special status. Civil servants do not answer to us, individual taxpayers, rather to their bureaucracy, and it is that bureaucracy that answers, through the Executive and Legislative branches, to the taxpayers.

You have a great news site. Why are you raising a ruckus about one JSC employee when there are so many other important issues, e.g. will we have a manned space exploration program come Christmas? I have been a supporter of yours in the past; I called you years ago to offer legal help when you felt threatened by Domenici's office, so don't confuse dumping with advise.

Jim Hillhouse

Editor's note: if a NASA civil servant, a part of whose job includes use of social media and bringing openness to the way NASA does business feels that it is proper to allow personal biases to enter into how they accomplish that task then whatever policies they attempt to put into place will be hollow and established on shaky ground. Plain and simple. Am I being naive about demanding that people who are paid with my tax dollars (and yours) be held accountable and that they treat all citizens equally? You betcha. Naive and proud .

Is it at all possible that he doesn't even know exactly what he did? I have blocked people before on twitter, and I just figured it was the best way for me to say "No I do not want to follow you"... I guess I was wrong in that now my understanding is that when I block someone it means "You can not follow me even if you want to".
Is that a possibility? Have you reached him in some other way to say, "Hey I think you made a mistake."?
If you know for sure that you have made every effort to correct this issue, and he is still not receptive to you, for whatever reason, I can then see why you would be upset.
However, if this is a knee jerk reaction to someone who may or may not even realize what has been done... I'm sorry. I see your point, but I do not agree with your method.

Editor's note: Oh, Nick is a rather sharp fellow. He knows how to use all of these social networking tools rather well and he knows exactly what he has done. I also know that he is aware of my complaints. Yet he does nothing in response and still blocks me. The solution is simple, of course. He could get one Twitter account for NASA work and then get another for everything else.

Keith, it's unfortunate that simply visiting http://twitter.com/skytland is too much of a hassle for you to visit a stream you clearly have a valued interest in. As a media personality it's your responsibility to make the effort.

Editor's note: I am a taxpayer and I should not have to take extra steps to view the material generated by Nick simply because he wants to make it more difficult - specifically - for me to do so. That is an abuse of his position as a civil servant.

Mr. Skytland is clearly not NASA in the sense that @NASA or any of the officially sanctioned accounts are. Unfortunately, this banter may serve to hinder NASA's move toward more open communication. I don't think you thought about that completely through, if so you may have found it more conducive to write Nick directly rather than attacking him personally.

Editor's note: Nick was Twittering as part of his job ergo all that he posts in connection to this event is NASA material. This is not the first time that Nick has done this i.e. block me. So this is not a matter where he was unaware of what he was doing and my concerns. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Keith,

Nearly every comment here is telling you the same thing. But you are not listening. Worse, you're now debating your audience, and not getting the sensible message. And this "taxpayer" nonsense is silly; just because Nick is a NASA employee and just because he's writing about NASA activities, and just because he's responsible for outreach does not require he outreach to you or anyone else on his very own personal social media account.

Yes, Nick's blocked you. Your past ad hominem attacks on NASA employees and vitriol directed at NASA centers has started to come home to roost. And now you attack Nick openly. What part of that do you think is going to make him disposed to let you be in his circle of trust? And what logic gets you to the point of thinking that this is going to help NasaWatch?

Editor's note: Feel better now that you've gotten that off your chest?

I agree with Keith on this. These Gen Y types seem to have no concept of the difference between professional activity and personal activity. I see it all the time at NASA. If this guy Nick is using Twitter to relay the results of what he's doing at work then this is no different than puttting out emails using his official nasa.gov account or calling someone on the phone to tell them what he is doing. I am not sure why Keith wants to read his Tweets though. Other than reporting the results of what this event he organized is doing this guy doesn't seem to do much of anything for NASA except use Twitter and say how awesome it is to work for NASA.

@Jim Hillhouse: I work at JSC. let me tell you that NASA Watch is often the place where we find out what our management won't tell us. And as far as his rep at NASA I can only speak for what I hear. No one likes Public Affairs so being on their bad side is a compliment as far as many of us are concerned. When those ridiculous astronaut drinking claims were circulated several years ago Keith was one of the few people who was willing to go on TV and point out how stupid these rumors were. He was also one of the few who we saw on TV that spoke about the Lisa Nowak story without getting into all of the nonsense that went with that too. He saw it for what it was and said so even though the easy thing to do was to make diaper jokes like everyone else. Think what you will, but people here remember that. But to the topic of the original post, yes Keith can be irritating in his style, but Mr. Skytland has gone out of his way to ask for this sort of response. While many people deride Keith for doing so, he has been promoting the use of Twitter and other tools. If anything Skytland should be thanking him for that and not blocking him from seeing how Skytland is using the tools Keith has been promoting.

I take it back. This IS more interesting than the Augustine Committee findings and the shuttle mission. A real online version of Town Hall meetings for healthcare reform!

Will take a little more drama to rank up there with "Defying Gravity" though. Let's work on that.

And Nick, don't you just wish you clicked on "Naaa, it's OK, we're cool."

I have to side with Keith. IMO, if Nick is using twitter in an official capacity to communicate information about NASA activities to the public, he shouldn't be blocking Keith or anyone else for that matter.

Keith, You are a looser.

I have been following Nick's Twitter for about a year. I work at JSC and have found his Twittering to be useful at times at work. Yes, a lot of what he posts has nothing to do with NASA. But last week was different. I went back and reviewed the Twitter notes Nick sent out. I was unable to participate in this 'bar camp' thing due to STS-128 but found his postings a good way you stay in touch with what was happening during the day and where things were posted online. I have heard Nick speak before on issues having to do with making the agency more available to the public with Twitter, Facebook, and other things. So I am really perplexed when I see that Nick refuses to allow a clearly interested member of the public to get access to these updates about his work like so many others are able to get. While Nick is clearly enthusiastic (often in a refreshing way) it is a little funny to see someone who is not even 30 telling people with decades of experience how they are not doing their job right. Heck, maybe he has a point. But he is not going to get too far if he shuts people out as he seems to have done in this case with Keith Cowing. Who else has he blocked? I have seen far too many wonder kids come and go in this way like a flash in the pan when people grow tired of them or management loses interest in them. They always think they are special. Well, when all is said and done, they're really not. I hope Nick does not flame out in this way.

> Keith, You are a looser.

And what would he be loosing?

I have had to sit through one of Nick Skytland's little web 2.0 evangelism sessions at work. Interesting stuff - but not a solution for everyone. There are other ways to communicate many of which still work very well thank you very much. Imagine my surprise when I find out that Skytland won't let NASAWATCH follow him on Twitter given that NASAWATCH as been waving all of this Twitter stuff on our face since the day it was invented. I think the NASAWATCH guy is a little over the top on this but I understand his frustration. Skytland sure ain't very smart to turn off his potentialy largest ally - the one with a cyberspace megaphone that can blast this web 2.0 all over NASA. This is so typically Gen Y - don't trust anyone over 30 (sound familiar?). Oh and I am sure he thinks that he is "special" too - like all of his cohorts. He may be special but he doesn't have much in the way of street smarts.

This is his personal twitter account which civil servants are allowed to have. He posts about personal and professional activities-- which again, civil servants are allowed to do. He is not an official NASA twitter so therefore he has a right to block you.

Editor's note: Sorry. He uses it as part of his official job duties. He can always get a second Twitter - one personal - one professional - but he doesn't seem to know how to do that - or care.

This is just a wasted post. Are you really that bitter and jealous?

Editor's note: Hey, isn't anonymity GREAT! If it is a wasted post then I guess that has to apply to the effort you put into replying ....

Wow... any ideas I had of possibly twittering about my work experience at NASA just went out the door. Nice one, Keith.

Editor's note: Why? Just don't block taxpayers from receiving your tweets if those tweets are part of your job. If you have personal things to Tweet, get a second Twitter account. Its really easy to do.

"Editor's note: Why? Just don't block taxpayers from receiving your tweets if those tweets are part of your job. If you have personal things to Tweet, get a second Twitter account. Its really easy to do."

Obviously, it's an easy leap for you to assume that you'd have a right to see any personal posts I'd make during work hours. And considering that I sometimes work sporadically during the day, sometimes late at night, and weekends (ala "the sort of flex time that people only dream of having at NASA"), "work hours" would be all the time.

Editor's note: hate to break it to you but any Twittering that is an actual part of your job as a NASA civil servant i.e. that you use to inform co-workers, customers, or "stakeholders" of what you are doing as part of an assigned task or to coordinate that official activity is equally official as are emails, letters, or anything else. Twittering about how cool NASA is or what other people are doing or what the weather is like outside is not. If you discern the difference between personal activities and professional activities then you have no business working for NASA as a civil servant in the first place.

Ok, I understand your point a little bit Keith, but one can expand on it and say that Nick, or any civil servant for that matter cannot block anyone who is based in the US or even any company based in the US. Now on my twitter, and yes, I do twitter, I randomly get followed by people who have links to porn or other stuff in their profile that I and others would find offensive, so I block them. As a civil servant, I guess I should not block them because if they decided they wanted to know what I was up to and found out they were blocked, they could complain they were blocked.

What do you think of that, am I correct in saying I cannot block someone who I find offensive?

Editor's note: there are laws covering the situations you have described and rules that already exist for other modes of communication. Go to your IT people and they will explain them to you. I do not have porn or anything illegal or illicit on anything that I put online so there is no reason for any government employee to block me. Government employees cannot refuse to provide an equal level of communication to a specific taxpayer - one they make available to others - simply because they do not like that taxpayer. If that were the case then I imagine many civil servants would simply avoid interacting with the public altogether.

I had never heard of Nick Skytland before reading this discussion thread here at NASA Watch. Few topics nowadays (save for Michael Jackson's demise, perhaps) seem to engender this degree of spirited grass-roots debate so for academic purposes and driven by sheer curiosity I checked out Mr. Skytland's web presence.

The casus belli, if you will, immediately became clear. Cowing and Skytland are both hard-driving overachieving zealots with an evangelical urge to self-promote their respective enterprises.

The inevitable result, unfortunately, is analogous to two women in a too-small kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. Or maybe taken from another perspective: "There's only room for one sheriff in this [net-]town !"

Even the mundane always devolves into a showdown between the two sides and their legions of fanboy followers, and this is a source of never ending academic amazement to me. Life is *way* too short, fellows.