Twitter use soars in US Congress

The use of Twitter amongst Congressmen is becoming more and more popular

The proportion of congressional politicians who have signed up for Twitter accounts and keep in touch with their supporters through tweets now stands at one third of all representatives in Congress. Some of the most enthusiastic micro-bloggers are also the most unlikely candidates to take such an interest in a Web 2.0 tool often associated with the most technology-savvy young generation. Former Republican presidential candidate and Arizona’s senior senator, John McCain turns 74 years old this year, but he has more followers than any other congressional politician on Twitter. This is an especially odd turn of events, considering the fact that McCain rather proudly indicated during the 2008 presidential campaign that he never used computers before. Either the prominent Republican senator has had a dramatic change of heart, or he has some very resourceful social networking assistance, considering that he has managed to amass 1.7 million followers.

But McCain is hardly the only politician well into his golden years who has decided to try his luck with Twitter. Senator Charles E Grassley happens to be 76 and he is just as active in the world of micro-blogging and has managed to make it onto the top five list of  congressional politicians with the most followers. Those who track the development of social networking most closely have found that politicians are often much more candid and spontaneous on Twitter than they are on Facebook, where staffers dutifully edit the given profile in order to present the optimal image of the given politician. Twitter, however, offers far less scripted moments, such as when prominent politicians pull out their Blackberries and fire off a tweet during a dull committee meeting, and far out of the hearing range of their handlers.