The Overnights: Who is Using Twitter on The Hill?
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By Adam Bitely
In an article from Slate.com yesterday, they revealed that a majority of Congress still does not use the micro-blogging service called Twitter. While Twitter is only two years old, its popularity has boomed over the past year.
On the Hill, only 185 out of 435 Congressmen have signed up. That is a startling low number given it’s popularity. Some people are not using it because of the amount of characters that one is limited to when typing a Tweet. For instance, Congressman Barney Frank said that he does not like being limited to 140 characters. Perhaps this issue is due to the fact that Congress has never been this concise in all of history.
The website, TweetCongress.org keeps track of Hill twitter accounts. On the webpage, they show that Republicans have a majority of the Twitter accounts. While Twitter is a great tool to communicate your message in a concise format, it apparently has not caught on among those with the most power on Capitol Hill. Democrats are severely lacking in their Twitter presence.
Many that do not yet have accounts will probably have them soon. As we head into 2010, the non-Tweeters will want to be seen as being connected with their constituents in every way possible during election season. This will be a good thing as we will hopefully have more access to those who make important decisions.
Adam Bitely is the Executive Director of NetRightNation.com
