State Department spent $630,000 on Facebook 'likes'

State Department officials spent $630,000 to get more Facebook "likes", prompting employees to complain to a government watchdog that the bureau was "buying fans" in social media, the agency's inspector general says. "Many in the bureau criticize the advertising campaigns as 'buying fans' who may have once clicked on an ad or 'liked' a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further," the inspector general reported.

Despite the surge in likes, the IG said the effort failed to reach the bureau's target audience, which is largely older and more influential than the people liking its pages. Only about 2 percent of fans actually engage with the pages by liking, sharing or commenting.

In September 2012 Facebook also changed its approach to users' news feeds, and the expensive "fan" campaigns became much less valuable. The bureau now must constantly pay for sponsored ads to keep its content visible even to people who have already liked its pages.

Not only does the bureau lack its own social media strategy, but various State Department bureaus have more than 150 social media accounts that are uncoordinated and often overlap, according to the IG.