A new Missouri law could prevent students and teachers from sending direct messages on Twitter or becoming Facebook friends.  It bars exclusive access or contact between a teacher and a student, as well as former students under the age of 18. The new social media policy is part of a broader new law aimed at preventing child abuse by teachers.

Idaho State Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa McGrath said the state doesn’t have specific rules for how teachers can use Facebook or similar sites.  “It would fall within our code of ethics on how students and teachers communicate and whether that communication is inappropriate,” she said.  McGrath said the state has asked local districts to come up with policies for teachers using social media.

Idaho’s code of ethics for teachers prohibits inappropriate contact between a teacher and child using electronic media, but doesn’t spell out specific actions, such as friending on Facebook, that could be off limits.  McGrath said the panel that puts together the code has discussed adding guidelines for social media.

Shelley Allen, spokeswoman for the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District, said the district and many others don’t have any such policy.

“We expect our teachers to follow their professional standards,” Allen said.  “We just haven’t gotten to the point where we felt it was necessary to establish any kind of a policy.”  She added that she’s talked with officials in other districts about adopting a policy, but isn’t aware of a district with such a policy.

There’s no apparent momentum to get a similar law passed inIdaho.  McGrath said state schools chief Tom Luna hasn’t called for a similar law.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, who chairs the House Education Committee and sits on the school technology reform  task force, said he hadn’t heard of the Missouri law.  “I’d have to look at the law and how it would be in Idaho,” he told IdahoReporter.com.  “That’s a hard question and I can’t really answer that yet.”

A Facebook spokesman told Fox News that the company wants to make sure the law doesn’t limit the ability of students and teachers to use the website for educational purposes.

Last year, Idaholawmakers asked districts to provide the state with an Internet use policy.  Those district-wide guidelines were due to the Department of Education on Aug. 1.  McGrath said the department is reviewing them.

Earlier this year,Idaho lawmakers approved an education reform that would expand the use of laptops and other mobile devices in classrooms.  Some expressed concern that the expansion of technology could lead to more cyberbullying or students looking at pornography.

The technology task force that will implement the reforms will meet in Boise Monday and Tuesday.

“When job opportunities come along in state government, we need to get the word out to more of those qualified folks who need the work – where they are most likely to find it,” Gov. Butch Otter said in a news release.  “The immediacy and interactive nature of Twitter should be a real asset for the state and for targeting Idahoans who are unemployed or underemployed.”

The short messages each take less than a minute to post manually on Twitter and don’t add a cost to taxpayers, according to Michael Savoie, a human resources manager for DHR.  “We were noticing how Twitter is becoming more and more popular,” Savoie said.  “It’s certainly something we probably should have been doing for a while now, but we figured there was no time like the present.”

The new Twitter account has posted more than a dozen openings since launching Wednesday.  The state jobs tweets include each job’s title and location as well as a link to the DHR’s website, which has a full job description.  The Twitter accounts for the Idaho Department of Labor and Idaho Transportation Department have previously posted job openings across the state.

Some of Idaho’s neighboring states have similar postings on Twitter.  Worksource Oregon’s Twitter account has posted more than 2,500 public and private sector jobs.  The Utah Department of Workforce Services has more than 20 separate Twitter accounts for job postings, broken up by professions, including sales, farming, and legal work.  The Montana Department of Labor and Industry also has more than 20 Twitter accounts posting jobs, but those accounts are differentiated by location.

Tweets on the Oregon, Utah, and Montana accounts all include links directly to the specific job postings, while Idaho’s goes to the DHR page.  It takes three additional clicks of the mouse to get to a similar job description on the state of Idaho’s website.

Minnick said that eventually banning earmarks should be an important priority for Republicans and Democrats alike.  ”There is no more important issue facing our nation than the need to reign in reckless spending,” said Minnick. ”Banning earmarks and implementing a collaborative process to strike wasteful spending are positive steps in the path to more fiscal accountability.”

The site features a petition to ban earmarks, which also serves as a campaign recruitment tool for the Minnick campaign.  There is a blog on the site, featuring earmark-related talk and news, as well as information about the presidential and congressional line-items vetoes, of which Minnick is a staunch advocate.  Minnick’s foe in November, Republican nominee Raul Labrador, said earlier this month that Minnick’s push for the veto powers misses the mark on ending runaway federal spending. Labrador said because Minnick voted for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, he must follow her lead on spending and budgetary issues.

In conjunction with the website release, the Minnick campaign launched a Twitter account entitled “BanEarmarks,” which will likely be used to drive potential voters to the site and stir up discussion surrounding earmarks.

For those who think Labrador went too far in going after Ward’s wife Kirsten for working at  in the information technology department at Fannie Mae, a government-supported home lending agency, while her husband campaigns against bailout dollars, which Fannie Mae has been a recipient of, Mark Trail of Rathdrum, Idaho, a small town near Coeur d’Alene in north Idaho, has you covered.  Trail formed a group called “Tell Raul Labrador to stop bashing Vaughn Ward’s wife!” on Facebook and has invited others to join, though only five others have agreed to become members of the group.  The “wall,” or the central meeting and posting place for the group, features a message from Trail explaining what happened at the debate, according to him, and and a link to Labrador’s fan page to voice displeasure directly to the candidate.

Trail, who works for the campaign as a volunteer, said he formed the group to urge Labrador to refocus his message.  ”This campaign needs to be about issues,” Trail said.  Many times in political campaigns, volunteers or even high-level staffers will use social media outlets and blogs to tear down an opposing candidate, often times with the approval of a campaign manager or communication director.  Trail says that is not the case with his group.  ”I do not speak for the campaign.  I speak for myself and I did it on my own volition,” he said.  He said that he works for the Ward campaign in get-out-the-vote door knocking efforts.

One of the advantages of social media is the anonymity that can be used as a tool to attack political foes.  Though Trail is forthright about his identity and the functions of his group, not everyone is, including someone using Twitter to knock Ward.  The Twitter account is named “No2VaughnWard,” and regularly heckles Ward for his policy positions and the trouble he has been having with his campaign as of late.  Some of the more recent posts from the account question Ward’s geography skills in relation to Puerto Rico (where Labrador was born; in a debate, Ward said it was a foreign country), mocks former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s impending visit to Boise to stump for Ward, and claims that Ward is a slick politician and Washington, D.C., insider.  ”Vaughn Ward PLAGIARIZED quotes from other politician’s websites. I learned not to do this in Junior High English class,” reads one of the Twitter posts from Tuesday.  The account has the ability to be a major voice in the social media realm of the campaign; the “No2VaughnWard” account has only 50 fewer followers than Ward himself, who boasts 740, and Labrador, who has 533 followers.

Though the identity of the person behind this Twitter account is not known by IdahoReporter.com, Labrador spokesman Dennis Mansfield said that the tweets, or messages sent via Twitter, are not coming from inside his camp.  ”I know who it is, but it’s not coming from inside our campaign,” Mansfield said.  Like Trail and his anti-Labrador group on Facebook, Mansfield confirmed that the person behind the anti-Ward Twitter account is a Labrador supporter but not a campaign worker.

Requests for an interview from IdahoReporter.com to the individual behind the “No2VaughnWard” Twitter account have not received any response.

When social media first came around in the form of MySpace and Facebook, it was seen as a way for teens to keep in touch, discuss social trends and music, and post pictures of their life happenings on the Internet through a very easy to use format.  Each social media tool, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and blogs, has evolved since its original creation and has expanded its functionality to meet the needs of it users.  Idaho state legislators have taken notice and are beginning to utilize social media websites in greater number, though some lawmakers don’t fit what many believe to be the mold of a typical social media user.

Several lawmakers have blogs, Twitter accounts, and Facebook fan pages to help spread their messages to a diverse and varied audience.  During the 2010 session, Rep. Branden Durst, R-Meridian, tweeted (meaning he sent messages through Twitter) before, and sometimes throughout the course of, committee meetings and House floor sessions.  He delivered messages to followers about specific issues or pieces of legislation that lawmakers considered each day.  On his campaign website, Durst uses a YouTube video to explain his candidacy for the state Senate, as well as ask for donations and encourage those interested in his Senate run to contact him through social media outlets.  It is important to note that Durst, in his 30’s, is the youngest member of the Idaho Legislature and fits within the 18-54-year-old demographic that makes up more than 75 percent of all Facebook users.

Durst told IdahoReporter.com that he sees blogging as a way to reach a certain audience.  ”You have to meet people where they’re at,” said Durst, who feels that social media offerings by legislators should complement town halls and face-to-face contact, not replace them.   He predicts that in the future, social media offerings will again evolve to a point where legislators will be able to offer town hall-type meetings over the Internet through messaging services like Skype or MSN Messenger.  Durst believes this evolution will come as a result of greater digital understanding by the youngest voting demographic.  ”People in younger generations recognize that there are different ways to do things and we aren’t afraid to try new things,” he said.

The use of social media is not strictly for younger lawmakers anymore.  A member of the older makeup of the Legislature, Rep. Steve Thayn, R-Emmett, authors a blog of his own, with mixed results.  Thayn said that his blog allows him to go more in-depth on issues than he can on Facebook.  Thayn, though he has a personal Facebook page and a fan page, said the social media site is often too superficial and confrontational to promote deep political discussion.

So has the use of his blog or Facebook helped him become closer and more connected to constituents?  Not really, said Thayn, who added that the use of social media has become so prevalent that it he feels it difficult to cut through everyone else’s messages to share his own.   “It’s increased my exposure a little bit,” he said, noting that his blog has 16 or 17 regular followers.  He said that he has no interest in using Twitter because he doesn’t understand how to use it.

State Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, like Thayn, has a blog, a personal Facebook page, and a campaign Facebook fan page.  Hagedorn’s blog, unlike Thayn’s, gets little use by the representative and has not been updated in more than a year.  Hagedorn said that he ditched the blog in favor of Facebook because of its ease of use and versatility.  He said that Facebook allows him to relay information to constituents without requiring them to open an email or go to a certain website.

“I think it’s a great way to put the information out in short bursts that don’t really bother people,” said Hagedorn.   “They don’t have to take action to open or delete an e-mail; just read it or not and comment if they feel they need to.”

Ron Baker, president and CEO of Ecliptic Marketing and Consulting, an Idaho Falls-based company which advises legislators on utilization of social media tools, said that many state lawmakers have begun using Facebook because it reaches a wide array of the citizenry.  He said that of all the offerings of social media, Facebook is the most popular among legislators because of its ease of use.  He noted that many lawmakers shy away from using Twitter because they have a perception that it is more difficult to use than Facebook.

Reports indicate those 55 and older are beginning to use Facebook at greater levels.  According to research, use of Facebook by the 55 and older crowd increased 922 percent between January 2009 and January 2010.  During that time, almost 9 million people older than 55 began using the social media giant.  What does that mean from local lawmakers?  Baker believes it indicates that social media is now a necessary tool to reach out to all segments of the voting public. “They need to be a part of it,” he said.  ”It is a very large communication tool that ought to be taken advantage of in campaigns.”

In a day and age when almost every celebrity and politician has a Twitter account or Facebook fan page, communication directors from several departments within the state government are beginning to utilize social media tools to reach out to the citizens of Idaho.  Those tasked with department communication see social media as a way to efficiently and reach diverse audience across Idaho at no direct cost to the state.

Several state departments and entities have Twitter accounts or Facebook pages, including the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), the Idaho Department of Labor, the Idaho State Board of Education, the Idaho Department of Commerce (IDOC), and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR), among many others.  Departments will often use Twitter to make announcements and link followers to important news releases or other documents.  ITD uses its Twitter account to warn drivers in southwest Idaho of lane closures, blockages, auto accidents, and of road construction.  The Twitter feed for IDPR was used Tuesday to inform boaters around the state that inspection stations for boats are opening today.

Social media tools can also be used to drum up support for a certain government project or initiative.  In February of this year, Gov. Butch Otter began a full court press attempt to garner new jobs for the state by asking the U.S. Air Force to bring F-35 joint strike fighters to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Mountain Home and Gowen Field in south Boise.  Along with a press release touting why he believes Idaho to be the right place to station the new jets, Otter announced the creation of a new website to show support for the project.  In conjunction with the website, IDOC created a Twitter account, which has 52 followers, and a Facebook fan page, which has 3,820 followers.  Both were used to inform supporters of the jets of different avenues they could take to show that support to the Air Force.   The two social media outlets were also used to relay web links to newspaper articles supportive of the state government’s attempts to bring the jets to Idaho.

June Sparks, who runs the Twitter account and Facebook page for ITD, said that her department has been cautious to implement social media tools and has monitored their use throughout the implementation process.  ”We’re taking baby steps,” said Sparks.  She said that because the outlets are representative of ITD, a state organization, she remains very cautious about the content delivered over Facebook and Twitter.  She also realizes potential dangers of sending Twitter messages with traffic updates.  ”We don’t tweet in real time,” Sparks said.  ITD officials also avoid sending updates through Twitter during rush hour traffic, when a crash due to distracted driving could clog state roadways.

The majority of ITD’s tweets focus on the urban center of the state, the Treasure Valley.  Sparks explained that due to recent large road construction projects on Interstate 84, which runs through Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell, messages from ITD have centered around that area.  She said that projects in the northern and eastern parts of the state, while typically smaller than those of the Boise metro, are still important and that she hopes to increase use of Twitter in those areas soon.

Mark Browning runs the Twitter account and Facebook page for the Idaho State Board of Education.  He said that he loves Twitter because it gives him a central place to relay information to several different demographics of people.  Twitter has its limitations, notes Browning.  He said that because it limits message to 140 characters of text, Twitter messages are often more superficial that what he would like, though he also said that he links from the board’s Twitter account to its Facebook page to provide more in-depth news.  Even with the limitations on the messages, Browning said Twitter is good for what he needs it for.  ”Its upside far outweighs the downsides,” said Browning.

Though social media presents communication directors with new avenues to provide information to those who seek it, Browning said that the old methods of public relations, such as press releases, face-to-face forums, and working with reporters will not expire with increased use of the new media.  ”It (social media) is just another thing for us to do,” said Browning.

Jeff Walker and Marlene Mussler-Wright, both with Access Idaho, a private company that manages the state’s website along with its Twitter account, said they started utilizing social media as a tool to gain more feedback from citizens.  Walker said that with older forms of political communication, including press releases, communication officers had no way to gauge the effectiveness of marketing and communication strategies.  The duo said that they often measure the number of people who click on certain messages relayed through Facebook and Twitter, which helps them make adjustments to their social media techniques.

So what advice does Access Idaho have for other government entities that might be struggling to maintain an effective social media presence?  Mussler-Wright says the key for departments is to keep messages conversational, free of opinion, timely, and down to a minimum.  She said that she tries to send Twitter messages 3-5 times per day so followers of the state’s Twitter account don’t become overwhelmed with information.

Boise Democratic Rep. Branden Durst, on his blog:

“(Health and Welfare) always has a ton of rules and this year was no exception. We are still knee-deep in them and I suspect at least a week or two away from completion. Some of the rules can be controversial because they are where actual cuts to safety net programs exist. I have been pushing back against the notion that the budgets need to be cut as much as proposed. My rationale is two fold: 1) Safety net programs are being demanded by Idahoans at rates that have never been seen and 2) Many of the cuts will actually result in higher costs to the state in the long term.”

Caldwell Republican Sen. John McGee, on Twitter:

“State financial numbers are even worse than originally forecast. Raising taxes, as recommended by several Democrats, is unacceptable!”

Boise Democratic Sen. Nicole LeFavour, on her blog:

“With this seemingly blind frenzy to dismantle state government, who is figuring out where that line of diminishing returns is going to be? How long will it take and how much will it cost us, our kids, our economy, and our state to undo the damage that will be done if Republican leaders’ only answers are to lead by severing limbs and cutting it all to the bone.”

Republican 2nd District U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, on his website:

“While the media has focused on the Democrats’ healthcare bill as the biggest issue in the Massachusetts election, I think the real message voters sent is a rejection of the status quo. To be clear, the American people disapprove of the healthcare bill, but they also disapprove of a Congress that is out of touch with Main Street and focused too much on who wins and who loses.”

Democratic 1st District U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, on his website, in response to Simpson:

“As Congressman Simpson wrote, no party has all the answers. Instead, the answers rest within a new approach, one where all members of Congress can work together in the kind of common-sense, bipartisan way that I have been fortunate to develop with my friend and colleague from Idaho.”

Republican U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, on his website:

“Since the Victims of Crime Act was established in 1984, more than $12 billion offender-generated, non-taxpayer funds have been deposited into the Crime Victims Fund, solely to help victims of crime… We must continue to protect this critical resource for crime victims.”

The bridge came down Friday night. Money for the renovations is coming mostly from the GARVEE bond program. Some federal stimulus dollars are funding construction.

Read more at the ITD’s Connecting Idaho page on the Ten Mile Road Interchange.