Tweet Congress tracks politicians on Twitter, heckles ones who aren't
Want an easy way to get updates when Rep. Mike Honda posts on his blog or hear about what book Rep. Kevin McCarthy is reading?
Yes, even congresspeople are on Twitter.
Tweet Congress organizes all the congressional representatives who are tweeting their daily lives and provides a timeline of recent messages, state-by-state breakdowns of tweeting politicians and stats about the most popular representatives.
To be honest, the statistical breakdowns are a lot more interesting than the politician's own tweets. For example, only five of California's 55 congressional representatives have Twitter accounts. And of those, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. George Miller haven't tweeted since the summer. Not so impressive.
Despite the Democrats holding a majority in Congress, 15 more Republicans are on Twitter. But failure to tweet is a bipartisan problem, with only 13% of Congress registered on the website. And that's not counting the Twitter ditchers, who signed up but haven't updated in months.
Tweet Congress provides more traditional contact info and a petition feature so you can bug your Congress member into signing up.
Oh, and he may not be a congressman, but a certain Governator is also on Twitter. (And so are we. Shameless plug.)
-- Mark Milian
Photo: Tweet Congress profiles of two non-tweeting representatives from California, Joe Baca and Xavier Becerra
Great article! Look for a library of all members of congress tweets soon on http://tweetcongress.org We are also working on some other cool features to help the people interact with their elected officials.
Posted by: Chris McCroskey | January 31, 2009 at 11:46 AM
This is about the stupidest thing I've ever read. I want my elected officials thinking about, debating and solving the important issues our country faces. The fact that they are wasting our taxpayer money on something as inane, stupid and useless as Twitter has me greatly offended.
I mean, give me a break. Why should I care what book my congressman is reading? If Senator Boxer has resources to waste on this stupid crap she should return it the Federal treasury -- it's not like we don't have debt. This does nothing to further representative government that a blog on the official's web site could not accomplish. I mean, even the LAT has an RSS feed. And don't even argue this will provide insight into what an official is thinking -- this is all vetted through the proper channels, and nothing interesting or controversial is going to show up. It's just another outlet for official propaganda.
I guess what really makes me unhappy is that Twitter is such a meager communication channel -- a few hundred words? Give me a break, there is no way that is enough to send out meaningful information to your constituents. This is the ultimate dumbing-down of government. What a joke.
Posted by: AH | January 31, 2009 at 05:27 PM
lol twitter....
i prefer facebook myself
Posted by: joe | January 31, 2009 at 06:05 PM
I am more interested in my congress people knowing what their voters think than what they think. Maybe then the grass roots will begin to grow a congress that repersent the people.
Posted by: sallee b pruett | February 02, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Mark, the govt.-types using Twitter goes well beyond The Hill. In addition to TweetCongress, check out http://GovTwit.com for a directory of government agencies, individuals and others using Twitter to share information.
Posted by: Steve Lunceford | February 02, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Rep. Miller does have a Twitter account for the committee he chairs - Education and Labor.
Come follow here - http://twitter.com/edlabordems
Mike Kruger
Online Outreach Specialist
Committee on Education and Labor
Posted by: Mike Kruger | February 02, 2009 at 02:19 PM
For the Canadian equivalent check out http://politwitter.ca/
Politwitter tracks federal and provincial politicians along with all political discussion from the community.
Posted by: Trevor | August 10, 2009 at 12:41 AM
Its great for the people to be informed, Thanks Tweet Congress. I would like to thank Congressman Christopher Murphy Democrat from Ct. Who recently voted AGAINST EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, who exactly are you representing? Not Me, I have exhausted my benefits while desperately trying to seek work. THERE ARE NO JOBS. get your head out of your a-- and do your job. How are you representing the people of Connecticut? I notice you refuse to Tweet, Why is that, are you afraid the people of Ct will really know what your doing for them which is Nothing . Disgusted in Ct Carol Ludlum
Posted by: carol ludlum | October 01, 2009 at 10:35 AM