In an attempt to get government agencies more involved on Facebook, the social network has launched a new page, Facebook and Government.

While the page is still new and largely devoid of content, it's easy to see how this page could soon become a great resource for many agencies that use Facebook to communicate with citizens.

Could this hub be using the White House's ambitious Facebook page as an example? When that page launched in the spring (it now has over 350,000 fans), it was followed shortly afterwards with a Facebook App, White House Live, which streams live events right in Facebook and allows for live comments from citizens.

It's too early to tell how exactly this page will be used. But it does have an "Other Pages" tab, which includes popular agency pages like the State Department, EPA, NASA and Coast Guard.

All readers of this blog should become a fan of Facebook and Government â€" it will be interesting to see what's coming. Could other social networks follow Facebook and create a similar portal?

In March, I wrote about best practices for government communication on Facebook.