CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
June 8, 2011 – 10:08 p.m.

Raising Profiles — Embarrassing Or No — in 140 Characters or Less

This is probably not the ideal time for social media giant Twitter Inc. to urge members of Congress to be more prolific users of their accounts.

Rep. Anthony Weiner’s political undoing this week as a result of his overactive tweeting has focused new attention on lawmakers’ widespread and growing use of social media to communicate with constituents and a nationwide audience. Presumably, not many of them are engaging in sex-related online chats or sending racy photographs.

The New York Democrat’s embarrassment comes amid a push by Twitter representatives to meet with lawmakers and encourage them to make greater use of 140-character messages to constituents and campaign donors. The company seldom weighs in on legislation.

There has practically been an explosion of Twitter use in this session of Congress. The number of lawmakers with registered accounts has roughly doubled to about 340 in the House and about 75 in the Senate.

In recent weeks, top company officials have been making a push to suggest to lawmakers and celebrities that they polish their tweets to attract more followers — and thus more users of Twitter.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., one of those targeted by top company officials during the recent marketing campaign, says Twitter has significantly raised its profile on Capitol Hill. “They haven’t had much of a presence here in Washington. That may be changing,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman and other lawmakers said they doubt that Weiner’s use of Twitter and Facebook — or the resignation in February of former Rep. Christopher Lee, R-N.Y., who sent emails and a photo of himself to a woman he met on Craigslist — will dampen the rapid emergence of social media companies as influential voices in Washington.

Lieberman was among about a dozen House members and senators who met with top Twitter officials during their first foray through Congress in early May. Participants in those meetings said Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief executive officer, described an ambitious corporate growth plan and stressed the company’s desire to help lawmakers better connect with constituents and other followers. Company officials tutored lawmakers on the value of analytical feedback showing numbers of “favorite” ratings, and re-tweets, or retransmissions of lawmakers’ messages.

Twitter’s meeting with a bipartisan group of senators on May 5 was hosted by John McCain, R-Ariz., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Several Republican members of the New Media Caucus have met with Twitter executives to discuss ways to use Twitter accounts to vet ideas and to promote legislation.

“We are not lobbying. It’s not on our front burner. We are still in an early stage in our growth as a company. At this point, our focus is improving the product and the experience for our users,” said Adam Sharp, Twitter’s Washington representative.