FCC launches MySpace channel

Updated 3:05 p.m.

Just minutes ago, the FCC launched its own channel on MySpace (MySpace.com/FCC). Members of the social network will be able to view videos by the agency, leave comments and contribute to online discussions.

It's one more way the FCC is trying to leverage social media to get more Americans involved in the agency's activities. The FCC has launched a blog, a Twitter feed and new a new site devoted to broadband initiatives. Chairman Julius Genachowski is experimenting with video addresses as well. An overhaul of the official Web site is supposedly in the works.

The FCC also has a page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/fcc), and has 1,265 fans so far.

Being the top Internet regulator, and given current debates over broadband expansion and net neutrality, it's fitting for the FCC to have a presence on popular social media sites, which drive significant amounts of Web traffic.

Haley Van Dyck, who was part of the Obama campaign's Web outreach team, is the FCC's new media specialist. I hear she's spearheaded a lot of these intiatives to bring the FCC "into the 21st Century," as Genachowski often cites as one of his goals.

MySpace also has similar partnerships with the White House (MySpace.com/WhiteHouse) and the Justice Department (MySpace.com/usdoj).

Update: Speaking of MySpace, I just came across an interesting piece on Huffington Post that ponders the impact of Members of Congress leaving MySpace and, in the process, leaving a large number of constituents behind.