A senior official in D.C. Fire and Emergency Services was suspended this week for comments he made on Twitter and Facebook, reports the Washington Times. more ›

Despite "flash robs" not being much of a problem in the District, Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) doesn't want to take any chances. more ›

Social networks were buzzing earlier today with supposed reports that a young man from the District was killed last night at a suburban mall while trying to buy a pair of Air Jordan Concords. Turns out it was all made up. more ›

Mayor and DCist commenter Vince Gray has never been afraid to dive headfirst into the (occasionally shallow) social media pool. So it's hardly surprising that the man who is using the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial as an excuse to drive hard to the hoop for voting rights is asking Facebook and Twitter users to join in. But we would have figured that a simple hashtag would have sufficed. more ›

Today, Metro rolled out another cog in its new-found communication mechanism: Metro Forward, an "ambitious 6-year action plan that is designed to make your life better by making your commuting experience more reliable, more comfortable and more enjoyable." more ›

Today, the Washington Post Company launched Trove, its "free news-aggregation website" which pulls from "more than 10,000 news sources" and cost the company ten million dollars to put together. Post Co. chief digital officer Vijay Ravindran told the AP that Trove is "a first stop for news and a step toward understanding what the future of news looks like online." So does it deliver on the hype? Uh, not exactly. more ›

President Barack Obama, fresh off fielding the questions of Northern Virginians, will hold a Facebook town hall event this afternoon from California -- and he wants your questions! The theme of the event is “Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity” -- hmm, shared prosperity, eh? Sounds like the perfect opportunity to ask him why he felt the need to sell out the District on abortion funding, even though more income taxes go to our city than to his home/office. more ›

Tired of bugging honorary D.C. Representative Louie Gohmert about how Washington is treated as the federal punching bag? Then this Facebook app -- which, after reminding D.C. residents about their lack of voting rights, connects them to the office of a random one -- might be for you. more ›

Here's Sundullah Ghilzai's Facebook profile. Now, I'm not friends with Mr. Ghilzai, so I wasn't privy to checking out some of the stuff he expressed an interest in on the social networking service until this afternoon. Like hiking. Or that Sundullah Ghilzai was only one of his names, that he had an affinity for AK-47s and that he (allegedly) planned to blow up Metro trains. more ›

Some confusion on DC9's Facebook page is leading some to think that they are reopening tonight. They are not - if you look closely you can see they are writing about the opening of Red Palace, the merger of the Red and the Black and the Palace of Wonders on H Street NE (which is also owned by DC9 owner Joe Englert) hence the promotion of the place on DC9's Facebook page. more ›

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee may only have officially resigned this morning, but she spared no time in laying down the foundations of her emerging national brand -- a website, Twitter account and Facebook page. more ›

"Why would I want to see a movie about Facebook?" I've been hearing this a lot, whether its online, from friends or on Bill Maher's television show. There's a perception that The Social Network is simply another step in Facebook's inevitable march toward societal domination. At worst, a periphery marketing tool, and at best, a movie about a website; and who wants to see that? more ›

One of political journalists' favorite research methods is poring over the finance reports of prominent local candidates to see where their financial support is coming from. Usually, it's to establish a connection between those running for office and the demographics that are backing them, like Vince Gray's large financial support from taxicab drivers. Other times, it's just for fun, like finding that Ward 1 Council candidate Bryan Weaver got a $500 donation from Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's fame. One of the more interesting contributions in yesterday's Office of Campaign Finance reports was a $2,000 donation from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to the campaign of Mayor Adrian Fenty. Perhaps Zuckerberg can give the Mayor some tips on how to increase his reach on the ubiquitous social networking site: Gray (2,830 friends) currently has Fenty (1,354) more than doubled up when it comes to popularity on the 'book. more ›

Which D.C. politicians are using social media to the benefit of their campaigns -- and who just doesn't have a clue? more ›

It's only a Facebook wall post, but the context here makes this just too funny. more ›

Back in the day, if you really wanted to make your point in the political arena, you'd march a crowd over to the office of your local elected official and demand that they do or not do something. Or you'd get your supporters to flood their office with calls, faxes or emails. These days, you just need a lot of folks with a few minutes and a Facebook page. more ›

Sure, we've been all a-flutter about Twitter this year, but it's nice to see a District agency actually put it to good use when it's needed most. more ›

Local blogger Ben Somberg writes in to let us know he's had just about enough of front page stories about Facebook from the Washington Post. And he's got the evidence to prove he's not just a big whiner: since September of 2006, the Post has now devoted A1 space to stories about the social networking site a total of 15 times, by Somberg's count. Today's story, penned by youth reporter Ian Shapira, focuses on those rare individuals who aren't too old for Facebook, but still refuse to participate. Says Somberg: "It's alright, though I don't see exactly what it adds -- I don't leave the story having learned much I didn't already know. It belongs inside, not on Page 1." more ›

You gotta love the Washington Times for splashing this story across the top of their local coverage today: "EXCLUSIVE: Capitol Police probe officers' Facebook pages" reads the headline, with the subhead, "Complaint cites degradation of women, hedonism." Apparently a couple of officers are "members" of a public group on Facebook called the "Make-it-Rain Foundation for Underprivileged Hoes," which we gather means these guys want it to be known that they are fans of going to strip clubs. Talk about a snoozefest. But wait, there's more!

One of the three men also listed himself as a member of the "He-Man Woman Hater's Club" and founded a Facebook group called "Passed Out in Trashcans" - a three-member group geared toward "anyone else that has woken up from a long night of drinking to find themselves in the trashcan."

D.C. Wire tips us off to a new Twitter feed and Facebook page for the D.C. Fire Department and EMS services. In a nod to the Washington Post city desk's sometimes strained relationship to blogging, they don't actually provide you with direct links to the new features, instead just suggesting that you search for them yourself, so here you go: twitter.com/dcfireems and Dc Fireems on Facebook. DC Fire/EMS spokesperson Alan Etter told D.C. Wire he plans to post breaking news and other official department updates on the Twitter feed, which today has already garnered entertaining results. To wit: more ›

With all of its current budgetary struggles, Metro's certainly in need of some friends. Well, in what may be its most transparent grab for public support, you -- yes, you! -- can now pledge your undying friendship to the region's major mass transit provider on Facebook. more ›

Ted Leonsis has reached Facebook's limit of 5,000 friends. Leonsis has made more than 3,9002,900 friends since mid-April, when he blogged that he had almost 2,100 and asked, in typically affable style, "if this is winning, why do I sometimes feel like such a loser for being so connected? :-)" more ›

We first learned about it via Twitter this morning: "Scrabulous is disabled for US and Canadian users until further notice," one friend updated, and then another, and another, each expressing escalating amounts of dread. Now, The New York Times tech blog Bits confirms it: Facebook has had to shut down Scrabulous, the Scrabble-like game that's become wildly popular over the last couple of years. Scrabble maker Hasbro filed suit against the makers of Scrabulous in January, and indeed there is now a licensed beta version of Scrabble available on the social networking site. Still, we know how much you love wasting time on the internet, so we imagine more than a few of you are in a panic over the death of Scrabulous. Feel free to use the comments as group therapy. more ›

Virgil Griffith has a lot of time on his hands. A lot. more ›

A frenzy over whether staff-led tours of the U.S. Capitol will continue began earlier this month. At issue is a proposal from the Architect of the Capitol that would require all Capitol tours to be led by professionally certified tour guides once the new Capitol Visitor Center opens in November 2008. Unlike the smaller tours currently led by Congressional staff and interns, visitors would be put into groups of 40, given earphones and shown a... more ›

Facebook isn't just for ridiculous photos of politicians' kids anymore. Now university presidents are getting into the act. We'd usually say that a college administrator having a profile on Facebook, the big social networking site that started with colleges but has since spread everywhere, sounds pretty neat — the administration is trying to be transparent and stay in touch with the students' internet fads. We can imagine a lot of good uses for the site... more ›

Compiled by DCist Contributors Josh Kramer and Sarah Stonesifer The Eagle - American: >> AU is fine-tuning their free HIV testing program to accommodate students' schedules. They've also switched from an anonymous testing program to a confidential one. The changes aim to bring the school in line with the District government's HIV testing initiative. >> The American University bus drivers were approved by the Undergraduate Senate to have their own union, a debate that had... more ›

Good morning, Washington. It's only the end of September, but if drug store candy aisles are any indication, many of you are probably already thinking ahead just a little bit to the holiday season. What will you be for Halloween? Will you stay in town for Thanksgiving? What kind of Christmas bonus will you be getting this year? For some D.C. government employees, the answer to that last question is now up in the air.... more ›

These United States, DCist's favorite local alt-country Unbuckled alums and purveyor of tour diaries, is in the running for a spot in this year's famed CMJ Music Marathon. TUS has been touring relentlessly and doing all the good stuff bands should do, but are still doing all of their booking, promotion, traveling, managing and everything else on their own. Have you seen their tour schedule lately? That's a hell of a lot of stuff... more ›

Famed jazz flute player Tony Snow will step down as White House Press Secretary on Sept. 14, adding one more bleeding gash to the already hemorrhaging patient known as the Bush Administration. CNN is reporting that Snow, who makes $168,000 as the White House spokesman, says he is leaving for financial reasons, reiterating that he took a significant pay cut to take the position over a year ago in April 2006. It's an awfully weird... more ›