YoungFeds.org - MySpace for the federal set

if you're still among the Luddites who thinks that social networking is a bubble, a blip of gee-whiz tech that will quickly fade away, you're clearly on the wrong side of reality. Proof? YoungFeds.org - social networking for the up and coming federal employee set, as reported on by Stephen Barr at The Washington Post.

"The goal is to get people in the young feds community to provide content or give direction to the content," David Roberts , 26, a leader and organizer of the online clubhouse, said as he loaded material onto the new Web site from a laptop computer Friday.

Having set up the site, its organizers hope it will become as self-sustaining as MySpace or Facebook, with the community running it under its own power.

Over time, organizers hope, the YoungFeds site will permit users to set up blogs, create profiles, link to friends, search out other young employees in their agency, and post events on a calendar so that users can meet one another in person at breakfast forums and evening receptions.

YoungFeds is sponsored by the nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government as well as Geico. Social networking cred is being delivered by a group of young feds called 35<35 (35 under 35.)

Antony DiGiovanni, pictured, wrote an "UnCommentary" for the site. When DiGiovanni joined Energy in 2000, he said, "I got the sense that young people feel isolated in the federal government." Yah. Only 20 percent of fed employees are under 35. A Web site for younger employees, he said, could be "a promising way to help people find each other."

In addition to "UnCommentary," the YoungFeds site will feature "ProFile," accounts of young people who are making a mark in government; "Sound Bytes," featuring user-produced podcasts, webcasts and YouTube videos; and "Brand U," a summary of a hot topic in government and what a young person would need to do to take advantage of the trend.