This is a really great idea...If it were up and running the alerts would be going off as I wrote that.

The Secret Service made the request via a work order posted to FedBizOpps for a Computer Based Annual Social Media Analytics Subscription.

More specifically, according to the Washington Post, the orders ask for a long list of specific tools, including the ability to identify social media influencers, analyze data streams in real time, access old Twitter data and use heat maps. And it wants the software to be compatible with Internet Explorer 8. (The agency is asking for a blanket purchasing agreement over a five-year period, which shows just how often the government updates its technology.)

Then there's the request to sift through the heaps of snark on Twitter and other social media services: "Ability to detect sarcasm and false positives," the request reads.

Ah yes, money to be well spent. There goes that darn sarcasm alert again.