But don't you know? They're private companies, you can dictate what they can do! They need to make money! Profits! Responsibility to shareholders! Fuck anything else!

No one wants to download a government announcement app or go out of their way to check a government website. Twitter worked so well because people already had accounts, it was a widespread platform, and really helped maximize visibility. I don't really blame officials for putting a lot of announcements on Twitter. It was either that or force some kind of app/system alert to get the word out. Yes, right now cell phones get amber alerts and weather warnings, but could you imagine the uproar if every bill vote, every infrastructure project,, every hours change for each relevant government office was beamed straight to every phone? We'd cry out against the invasion of privacy and forced participation. Or worse, if the government ran the primary Twitter-like website to maintain control. We'd call it the protest as if it was the Chinese or North Korean government right at our fingertips. It was an OK solution in my mind until this entire debacle sought to capitalize overnight on a public fuckup