The CIA Celebrates Its Month On Twitter By Answering 5 Softball FAQs

As you would expect, the CIA doesn’t run the most responsive Twitter account. In the one month since its coyly worded introduction to Twitter — “We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.” — the CIA hasn’t sent a single direct @reply.

It’s a spy agency so you can bet it’s listening — and some critics don’t think it’s appropriate for a spy agency with a checkered human-rights history to be yucking it up on social media — but the CIA hasn’t been responding.

Instead, it has been sticking to fairly pedestrian tweets of excerpts from CIA director John Brennan’s speech to an intelligence conference, happy 90th birthday wishes to former CIA director (and President) George H.W. Bush. And less controversial aspects of the agency’s history such as the U-2 spy plane.

Today, however, in celebration of a first month on Twitter in which it gained more than 637,000 followers, @CIA sent a thank you tweet and some answers to FAQs.

Thanks for making our first month on @Twitter great! Today we take 10 mins to answer 5 of the top questions you’ve asked. #twitterversary

— CIA (@CIA) July 7, 2014

It followed up with five tweets answering questions it said were the most frequently asked. Not that we expected a discussion of serious policy issues — or response to critics — but it’s obvious that the CIA plans to keep a light-hearted tone on Twitter.

No, we don’t know your password, so we can’t send it to you. #sorrynotsorry #twitterversary

— CIA (@CIA) July 7, 2014

YES, we are hiring. http://t.co/008Lvn9fWJ #twitterversary

— CIA (@CIA) July 7, 2014

Sorry for not following you back @TheEllenShow. But if you visit us maybe we can take a selfie? #twitterversary

— CIA (@CIA) July 7, 2014

We flew an A-12 OXCART, not a SR-71 BLACKBIRD. Ours flew higher & faster. But, more on that later. #twitterversary pic.twitter.com/jLSCsn9RYn

— CIA (@CIA) July 7, 2014

No, we don’t know where Tupac is. #twitterversary

— CIA (@CIA) July 7, 2014