Shortly thereafter I started thinking about Congressional Twitter adoption rates and subsequently launched a small viral e-mail survey to friends on the Hill.
To those who responded, passed along my query, or helped along the way... thank you!
After combining the results of the survey with some leg work on the web, here are the initial findings:
Five Statistical Highlights (Complete Data-Set/Results Below)
- Congressional Twitter adoption on the Hill is 38%, or 204 members. Note: This does not account for personal accounts, committee accounts or agency accounts.
- Senate = 42%; House = 37%
- Congressional Republicans have embraced Twitter more rapidly than Democrats.
- Republican = 52%; Democrat = 28%; Independent = 100%
- Female members have embraced Twitter a fraction more than their male counterparts.
- Female = 39%; Male = 38%
148, or 73%, of the 204 members using Twitter have verified accounts.* - Note: A "verified account" prevents identity confusion. As such, I highly suggest that members who have not yet been verified look in to it. You can read more about the importance of verified accounts below.
- House leadership has adopted Twitter more than Senate leadership.
- House = 77%; Senate = 40
Five Random Tidbits of Information
- All of the members (Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein) that represent the geographic location where Twitter is headquartered (San Francisco) utilize Twitter.
- Some members maintain Twitter accounts but don't utilize the service. For example, Dick Durbin (IL) has an unverified account http://twitter.com/dickdurbin) with 1,374 followers but has not posted a single time. Granted, the account is unverified and not linked to from Senator Durbin's website... could this be a mistaken case of identity?
- Some Congressman have links from the House.gov that don't work. (See Charlie Gonzalez (TX - 20th) http://gonzalez.house.gov/.)
- Some members, despite linking to their Twitter accounts from their main page have protected accounts! (AKA: You can't follow them unless they approve your request.) Now, this may make sense for a personal account, but this argument is less compelling when your Twitter account is @CongMikeSimpson. See the prominent link to his account on the bottom right of his Congressional website.
- John McCain and Snooki? Read about it: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2010/06/mccainsnooki_2012_john_mccain.html
Congressman Gary Ackerman (NY - 5th), has links to Facebook, YouTube and Flikr on his congressional website. However, what he does not have is a link to Twitter. Nevertheless, it appears he may maintain an account, @RepGaryAckerman. Perhaps his account is @GaryAckerman, or @GaryAck, (but clearly not @NotRepAckerman).
It is more than likely than not that that @RepGaryAckerman it is an account managed by Congressman Ackerman or his staff, but lacking verified status, a bio description or a link to his congressional web-page confusion exists. (Confusion that led to this profile not being counted in this survey.) As such, three suggestions for members that use Twitter:
- Have your Twitter account verified.
- Link to your Twitter account from Congressional website.
- Occasionally check for impostors or "not" accounts (see @NotRepAckerman), as you never know what you'll find.
Data Set
If you find any inconsistencies in the data or have any additions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me! I wouldn't be surprised if a few account change verified status, or if I missed an account or two (as this is clearly a moving target). I'll update info as received.
- PDF Data Set: Click Here
- Excel Data Set: Contact Me & I'll happily send it to you.
As noted in my earlier post, what else can Twitter do to engage Capital Hill? Maybe Twitter will expand their existing political directory (see https://twitter.com/invitations/suggestions/politics) and create an advanced search for political entities. (Think: Enter your zip code and discover your local, state and federal representatives' handles.)
Perhaps they'll create a special politics page (think: www.twitter.com/worldcup) or utilize http://www.politweets.com/, which currently redirects to Twitter's home page, creatively. (It could be a sortable table (see earlier .pdf) and provide real time follower/following statistics, latest tweets, etc... Certainly, lots of options exist.
Lastly, for the next four weeks I'll post a new idea every Wednesday on how Congressional websites can easily improve. Hope to see you soon.
-Adam (@apzuckerman)
* The pie chart has been switched to reflect overall congressional verified status, as opposed to only the House.
Interesting post, but take a look at the accounts for Boxer and Feinstein, the two senators from the birthplace of Twitter. Neither of them are verified accounts, and neither has ever tweeted. Boxer's 2010 campaign had an account, but it hasn't been updated since she won reelection.
ReplyDeleteFor interested developers, the Sunlight Foundation API includes twitter handles, for easy integration into web applications. http://services.sunlightlabs.com/docs/Sunlight_Congress_API/