John McCain took to the Senate floor Monday and talked about Twittering.
For the increasingly popular networking tool, it was either a moment that marked the technology’s full-bore entry into the cultural mainstream — or a sign that Twitter is now about as hip as Pac-Man.
Just last year, McCain, the Republican nominee for president, was mocked by late-night talk show hosts for barely knowing how to turn on a computer. But McCain 2.0 is now plugged in, sending multiple “tweets,” as Twitter messages are called, several times a day. “We have the most followers out of any congressman,” boasts his spokeswoman, Brooke Buchanan, “topping over 122,000.”
Tweet, follow or get out of the way. That seems to be the new mantra on Capitol Hill in the early days of the Obama administration.
While the rest of the nation is following the stimulus debate and the bank bailout, the city’s political and media classes have become obsessed with Twitter, the social networking site that allows you to send short messages to followers, who view them on a website or on their cellphones.
Dozens of members of Congress use the service. They say it helps connect them directly with constituents. The value of that, of course, depends on how much unfiltered comment you really want from your elected officials.
“Jindal is weird,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) wrote while watching Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speak last week in response to President Obama’s address to Congress. “I can’t believe Jindal. Such a sad contrast with President. Doesn’t even look or sound good, to say nothing about content.”
Blumenauer was twittering throughout Obama’s speech, as were several other lawmakers. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) later told her followers she was upbraided by her mother.
“Ok ok. Mom’s upset that I was rude at Pres speech re: tweets,” McCaskill later wrote. “For the record I tweeted bfor, at very beginning, & after speech. I wanted to listen.”
Twitter’s very nature means that elaboration is impossible. Messages can’t exceed 140 characters. But you can transmit them instantly.
