If you've not yet been reduced to instant-messagespeak or simply don't recognize every possible acronym, maybe you don't suffer from "too much information" the way government seems to fear it may.

Writing at PBS' MediaShift, Mark Drapeau posts a thorough analysis of the role social media is playing in how officials are dealing with communications, given the explosion of online tools and adoption among their constituencies.

I wasn't aware of the dust-up (h/t Drapeau), apparently beginning in the summer of 2008, when a Republican and Democratic congressman each took heat for having utilized services like Twitter (for micro-blogging) and Qik (for mobile video) to speak to their employers, the American people.

The hesitation seems understandable (and this story's now a tad dated; last summer seems like one of the 'zoic eras of long ago), but as we careen toward friending the President-elect on Facebook and all that entails, it's helpful to note that this hand-wringing occured during the most recent sessions of Congress.

The tension comes from the most delicate matters of public record being balanced with the tremendous scale enabled by the Web.  I'm hoping We the people find the upsides greatly outweigh the downsides.

Less than two weeks from the launch of what may be the most interactive government in history, netizens are hopeful the online kinetics of the campaign will translate to better government. But as I've suggested before, time will tell.