Social media sites like Twitter provide readily accessible sources of large-volume, high-velocity data streams, now referred to as ``Big Data.'' While private companies have already made great strides in leveraging these social media sources, many public organizations and government agencies could reap significant benefits from these resources. Care must be exercised in this integration, however, as huge data sets come with their own intrinsic issues. This presentation explores these advantages and hazards with several experiments that demonstrate social media data's ability to support government organizations and supplement existing programs.