Memo to Congress: Tweets aren't Press Releases

This recent article by Micha Sifry at the Personal Democracy Forum looked at the "Klout" rating given to each Member of Congress that Tweets. Klout weighs 25 different variables to determine “the size and strength of a person's sphere of influence on Twitter.”   Of all the Congressional Twitter users, Congressman Joe Wilson has the most influence, and eight of the next ten are Republican. Tweet Congress reports that 192 Members of Congress use Twitter. Here's Klout's top ten most influential tweeters (rankings out of 100):

 

Rep. Joe Wilson: 79.0

Sen. John McCain: 75.4
Sen. Jim DeMint: 72.9
Sen. Claire McCaskill: 72.3
Rep. John Boehner: 67.9
Rep. John Culberson: 62.8
Rep. Michele Bachmann: 55.5
Rep. Jason Chaffetz: 54.6
Rep. Eric Cantor: 54.5
Rep. Keith Ellison: 51.0

 

Sifry says “Klout's data suggests that few Members of Congress are really using Twitter very effectively. Most aren't engaging a community all that well, and instead use the tool primarily to broadcast a PR style message that isn't likely to get spread around much by others.” 

 

This point is supported by a recent University of Maryland report that found politicians use Twitter not as a way to participate in a dialogue with the community but as a tool for self-promotion. Researchers read more than 6,000 Twitter postings by Members of Congress and found that 80% of them were either links to "self-serving news articles" and press releases available elsewhere or status updates that chronicle daily life.

 

As an active Twitter user, I find the users who solicit feedback, and engage in conversation with followers are the most interesting users to follow. The Twitter-sphere doesn’t care much about a 140 character press release. Twitter is used to best effect for two-way communication-- responding to others' Tweets and being a resource for crowdsourcing questions. 

 

If you’re interested in learning more about how to use Twitter effectively for progressive organizing, you can sign up for our "Tweet This" webinar on Friday (Sept 25th) at 3pm with Shireen Mitchell of Digital Sistas and Allyson Kapin of Frogloop and founder of Rad Campaign and Women Who Tech. Details here.