Have you sent a message to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ Twitter account? Probably not. But if you have, your message will end up recorded and archived by the federal government. Seriously.

Some who were quick to welcome White House press secretary Robert Gibbs to Twitter last Saturday are now having second thoughts.

They just discovered that if they tweet messages to him, the communications will end up in the federal archives in compliance with the Presidential Records Act.

“Just like any e-mails that I send or e-mails that I get are also archived for the future,” explained Gibbs at his first daily briefing since his debut on Twitter over the weekend.

Which kind of puts a damper on the whole White House-citizen connection thing. You can’t even send Gibbs a friendly welcome message without having the federal government record it. Have a criticism you want directed his way? Recorded by the federal government. Wishing Bo Obama a happy birthday? Recorded.

What does this mean? Congress can subpoena your messages, as can the court system. Any message you send, political or personal, is accessible by Congress and your friendly local judge. Sounds like fun.