State Department Seeks Russian-speaking Social Media Maven

The State Department wants to be able to communicate directly with hundreds of millions of Russian-language speakers, and could soon be taking to Twitter. The department issued a pre-solicitation notice seeking a Russian-speaking vendor with expertise in Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms. Eventually, the department plans to create Russian-language State Department accounts, to be maintained by this vendor "on a daily basis -- including evenings, holidays and weekends," the notice said.

The new Russian Twitter account would complement the department's other accounts, which usually translate what's being posted on the official English-language account -- @StateDept -- such as news about the Iran nuclear deal. Other official State Department accounts are in languages including Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese and French. "What we really try to do is try to make sure people are hearing [news] directly from us...versus having it translated for us," said Moira Whelan, the deputy assistant secretary for digital strategy in the Bureau of Public Affairs. Her goal is to "reach people where they are, and be part of that conversation." Including accounts handled by US embassies in other nations, the State Department operates about 400 Twitter handles, reaching about 35 million people a year, Whelan said.