Heard on the Hill: This Campaign Supporter Doesn’t Sleep. He Waits.

Publication: Roll Call

Emily Heil and Elizabeth Brotherton
October 9, 2008

The Tweet Goes On ... and On. More than three dozen tech-savvy Members are now regular users of Twitter, the popular micro-blogging network that allows users to send live, first-person updates on the most mundane of their daily happenings to friends and (for Members, anyway) supporters.

With so many Members Twittering these days, it can be hard to keep track of everybody.

Enter the Sunlight Foundation, which launched its “Capitol Tweet” widget this week, which refreshes every 10 minutes with Members’ latest Twitter updates.

Not only does the widget consolidate all Member posts in one place, it allows folks who aren’t signed up for Twitter to see the updates, foundation spokeswoman Gabriela Schneider told HOH. The widget also can be posted to blogs or other sites, she said.

“It’s direct communication with constituents. If you’re using Twitter, you can do it from your phone or from everywhere,” said John Wonderlich, the foundation’s program director. “It’s authentic communication, especially when it’s Members themselves.”

So now no one has to miss the latest, most fascinating updates from Members, such as a dispatch from Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who complained in a post this week about getting stuck in traffic.

Up until the end of the Congressional session, it actually was against House rules to use popular third-party Web sites such as Twitter, Facebook and even YouTube. But just before breaking for recess, Congress moved to relax its franking rules to let Members use the sites, so long as they follow House rules (Members can’t use Twitter to ask for campaign contributions, for example).

With those changes, Wonderlich expects even more Congressional Twitterbugs to emerge.

“Their first reaction is skepticism,” Wonderlich said of Members. “And really quickly, that gives way to addiction.”