If you've seen the Verizon Wireless ad in which a son pleads with his father to "cool it with the Twitter updates," you realize that at least on the high-tech front, there's not much of a generation gap between today's kids and their parents.

So it makes sense that the stodgy federal government has entered the world of social media. The latest agency to try out Web 2.0 is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is now using YouTube (CPSC Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum is shown), Twitter, and FlickR as ways to raise awareness of safety issues and recalls.

The agency has relied on its Web site, OnSafety blog, and e-mail alerts to spread the word, and ran the "Drive to 1 Million" campaign more than two years ago. Now the CPSC will publish its recall notices, videos, podcasts, and more on the aforementioned social networks. The push began yesterday with a campaign aimed at preventing furniture tip-overs.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: To stay on top of product recalls and other safety-related topics, read the Consumer Reports Safety blog.