Newsroom

DCFS Secretary Wins Twitter Race Against DHH Secretary

November 01, 2010

Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Secretary Ruth Johnson emerged as the winner today in the first Twitter competition between state officials.

"This was a fun experiment in social media, and regardless of the outcome, both DCFS and DHH are winners here," said Johnson. "Our agencies reached an incredible number of people in such a short time period. I plan to continue to share information about our work and the people we serve, as well DCFS news and events, through Twitter."

Johnson challenged Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) Secretary Bruce Greenstein in late September to a competition for "followers," as Twitter users who subscribe to another user's updates are called.

Although Greenstein began the challenge with more than 100 followers, Johnson pulled away at the end of the challenge. Johnson, who tweets under the name @RuthatLADCFS, had 749 followers when the contest ended at noon today. Greenstein, who tweets as @BruceonHealth, had 637.

"Congratulations to Secretary Johnson and her staff," said Greenstein. "She won the contest, and the real winner is the people of Louisiana. Let's keep the momentum up. This is a great thing for health and democracy. Remember, social media is only as good as the content that it provides. And we look forward to hearing from those that follow us to give us their feedback, stories and great ideas."

Late last week, the secretaries agreed that the loser of the challenge would serve the other lunch at Taco de Paco, a mobile taco stand in Baton Rouge. Taco de Paco's owners also agreed that the loser would serve customers for one hour, with the proceeds from those sales going to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.