Social Media

Politicians and Twitter

jasonlknoll Social Media, US Politics, WI Politics

In fall of 2011, I took a course on American political parties, and for my final research project I had decided to examine how political parties used Facebook and Twitter.  I didn’t have a Twitter account, so I had to sign up for one.  Once in, I didn’t fully grasp what the fuss was all about.   It seemed to me that Twitter was a big sounding board on which nobody interacted with anybody else (unless you were one of the select few who has managed to crack their way in to the inner circle).  On top of that, I wasn’t sure how to categorize Tweets.  So, after a couple of weeks, I decided to change the focus of my paper to something completely different- the arguments for and against the New START Treaty given by the two main parties.

Fast forward a few months to the week of the 2012 State of the Union.  I saw the various Twitterchats planned by the White House, and I wanted to participate; therefore, I got back on Twitter, and braved my way through the then confusing world of hashtags.  Since then, I’ve become a Twitter enthusiast, even using Tweetdeck to keep track of all of my lists.  Additionally, during the Republican primary debates and national party conventions, I became a proponent of the dual-screen experience.  During the debates between Gov. Romney and President Obama, I encouraged my students to follow along on Twitter so that they could see how the parties and the candidates attempted to frame the conversation.  Our discussions the days after the debates were great because not only did we talk about the debate itself, but also their thoughts on the use of social media in politics.  This semester, I plan on introducing a unit devoted solely to social media in politics, and it is this that led me to write a short post about how politicians use Twitter.

Instead of a discussion about politicians in general, I decided to focus on Wisconsin’s elected representatives in the House of Representatives (three Democrats and five Republicans).  Since new representatives were sworn in on January 3, 2013, I thought I would use their tweets between then and February 13, as a sample.  This time period not only encompasses the beginning of the new Congress, but also major events such as the White House’s announcement for reducing gun violence (January 16), President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address (January 20), the plan for immigration reform (January 29), and the 2013 State of the Union (February 12).  Surely as the new session began, politicians would be all over Twitter trying to spread their message and mobilize supporters.  I analyzed their tweets to see if they addressed any of the four major events and to see if they were critical of the opposition party.  I also took notice of which hashtags they used and their frequency.  Finally, I looked for URL’s to any sort of press release or statement regarding an action/idea/policy.  Here is a breakdown of my findings.

Rep. Sean Duffy; R, 7th District- 7 Tweets (2 Retweets, 0 Replies).  None of his Tweets addressed the four major events I mentioned above.  Three of them, however, mentioned town hall meetings with constituents.  The only hashtag he used more than once was #NoBudgetNoPay (twice).  One critical Tweet addressed a lack of budget from the President and Senate Democrats.  The only URL’s happened to be in the two Retweets.

Rep. Ron Kind; D, 3rd District- 16 Tweets (2 Retweets, 0 Replies).  Of the four major events, Rep. Kind discussed only the State of the Union, using #SOTU four times.  His only critical Tweet addressed Gov. Walker’s “decision to reject federal dollars for Medicaid expansion.”  Six of his tweets (not including the Retweets) included URL’s to news articles, media releases, and a YouTube video of his weekly address.

Rep. Gwen Moore; D, 4th District- 199 Tweets.  Due to the high number of Tweets and my lack of time, I am taking Rep. Moore out of my analysis.  Based on a cursory glance over her Tweets, however, I can say that she has mastered the use of hashtags and Tweeted extensively about the State of the Union.

Rep. Tom Petri; R, 6th District- does not have a Twitter account.  I did message his Facebook account to ask about the lack of a Twitter account but have not yet received a reply.

Rep. Mark Pocan; D, 2nd District- 1 Tweet.  The only Tweet happened to be about swearing in day and included a picture of Wisconsin products.  What’s interesting is that when I click on the Twitter icon on his congressional website, it re-directs me to the Twitter feed for the House Democrats.  Ironically, the same website has a page about social media with links to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr, all of which direct the user to the House Democrats.

Rep. Reid Ribble; R, 8th District- 17 Tweets (5 Retweets, 0 Replies).  Interestingly, none of the Tweets were in the month of February.  Similar to Rep. Duffy, Rep. Ribble used #NoBudgetNoPay more than once (three times).  None of his Tweets were critical of the President or the Democrats, but he did have two Tweets supporting Donald Driver (the Green Bay packers wide receiver).  Six Tweets included URL’s.

Rep. Paul Ryan; R, 1st District- 13 Tweets (0 Retweets, 0 Replies).  Twelve of his Tweets provided URLs to articles or videos.  Only one Tweet addressed one of the four events- the inauguration- and it congratulated the President.  Eight of the Tweets were critical of the Democrats and a lack of budget.  His last Tweet celebrated Pope Benedict XVI.  Only one Tweet contained a hashtag, and it was to promote him being on Meet the Press.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner; R, 5th District- 15 Tweets (4 Retweets, 0 Replies).  Two Tweets addressed the four events.  One Tweet provided a URL to a statement about immigration reform, while the other gave a URL to a video on the YouTube channel of House Republicans of what President Obama has said in previous SOTU’s.  These two Tweets were the only ones to contain any sort of criticism.  His only use of a hashtag came on January 3- #113th, in reference to the 113th Congress.  Nine of his ten Tweets included a URL, four of them back to his congressional website.

I was surprised with a number of issues.  First, with the exception of Rep. Moore, I thought that there would have been more Tweets.  With the growing use of social media in politics, and more being written about how politicians can successfully use it, I am surprised at how little the representatives from Wisconsin use Twitter.  Even more shocking was the fact that Rep. Petri does not have an account.

Next, given the two major events and two nationally covered policy initiatives that came from the White House, I was surprised to see how little attention they received.  There was little, if any, support or criticism for what the President said in his two speeches or on the proposals regarding reducing gun violence and immigration reform.  Are our representatives apathetic, or do they have their own agendas?  If they have their own agendas, why didn’t they Tweet more about them?  Or, perhaps the two issues of gun control and immigration are too controversial to discuss.

My conclusion- the elected representatives from Wisconsin are missing out on spreading their message by not actively using Twitter.  With the possibility to engage “Tweeps” through Twitterchats, and the fact that Twitter averaged 340 million Tweets per day in 2012 (CQ Press, “Social Media and Politics,” p. 875), using Twitter could be a great opportunity to build up support and spread one’s message.

Civility in Politics?

jasonlknoll Social Media, US Politics

Civility in politics has received some attention in the past two days.  During his inaugural address, President Obama briefly, but accurately, described the current state of American politics when he said that “We cannot…substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.”  The day after the address, Clive Crook wrote and article about the “Tragedy of American Politics” in which he argued,

“The tragedy of American politics is that the parties representing these contending
principles now find it impossible to see anything of value in each other’s worldview.
Rarely does either side rise above attacking a brainless caricature of the other’s
opinions. This mutual intolerance is worsening and has reached the point where it
rules out the everyday give-and-take that the American system of government
requires.”

Perhaps I am naive or idealistic when it comes to my government and the people who are supposed to represent me.  For example, I was disappointed in the response by the WI Democratic Party of WI (DPW) after the first of the debates between Tammy Baldwin and Tommy Thompson.  During the debate (if one could really call it that, but that’s for a different post), Thompson referred to himself as one who helped to build Wisconsin during his time as governor.  Instead of focusing on the issues and having a mature response, here is what the DPW posted to Twitter:

Tommy the Builder DPW

For those of you who don’t know, that is Gov. Thompson’s head pasted onto Bob the Builder’s body.  That was their response.  Apparently, this is what politics has been reduced to in the United States.

On the topic of name-calling, I might be a bit old-fashioned when it comes to elected officials- you call them by their title, even if you disagree with their politics.  Name-calling has been prevalent in WI politics the past two years, with opponents of Gov. Walker resorting to names like “Scotty” and “Scooter” (a reference to his first name, Scott).  On a national level, leading up to the presidential election, we heard names like “Mittens” (for Gov. Romney) or “Barry” and “Nobama” (for Pres. Obama).

It is unfortunate that the American political system has become prone to circus-like antics (see my previous post on the Wisconsin State of the State) and childish behavior as exhibited by both the parties and its supporters.  We, the electorate, deserve better than that.  I hope that my representatives at both the state and federal level will rise above their peers and set the standards for others to emulate.

Blogging and Podcasts (and a book plug)

jasonlknoll Social Media

I went to a great presentation today about getting started with blogging, podcasts, and videos.  Nic Champagne, a web specialist for the OAH, did a wonderful job introducing these topics to the audience.  I especially enjoyed learning about creating podcasts, as I see this as a way to record lectures for students who miss class.  The presentation was especially timely, as Sarah A. Curtis, Jason Lahman, and Brian J. Griffith wrote an article in the April 2012 Perspectives titled, “Blogging in the Classroom.” (Unless you are a member of the AHA, you might not be able to see the entire article until the next issue comes out.)  In addition to using blogs, I would also recommend using Twitter in the classroom.  (You can see how I use Twitter in a previous post.)  In a day where teachers are expected to use more technology in the classroom, I would highly recommend blogging and Twitter.

On a final note, I attended the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) luncheon today where Sarah B. Snyder was awarded the Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize for her book, Human Rights Activism and the End of the Cold War: A Transnational History of the Helsinki Network.  Based on what I heard at the luncheon and my quick perusal of the information on the Google Books page about the book, I plan on checking out from the library as soon as I return home.  I urge you to do the same.

Regards,

Jason

How I use Twitter

jasonlknoll Social Media

I just finished reading an article titled, “How Do You Actually Use Twitter?” and was inspired to let all one of you out there reading this how I use Twitter.  Before I continue, let me say that I came across this article in a tweet by @TweetGardenEU, a project from Vattel, designed to “[build and support] social media presence in Brussels policysphere.”

I actually didn’t have a Twitter account until this past September, when I was considering researching how political parties in the U.S. use Facebook and Twitter.  My sole purpose for using Twitter was that project, and I followed only political parties.  As it turned out, I was not that interested in the topic at the time and shifted my research to the reaction by the House and Senate Democrats to the New START treaty.  So, my venture into Twitter lasted about eight weeks.

Then in January, the State of the Union came along, and with it came Twitter.  One of the courses I teach is on government and politics, and so the SOTU naturally fits into that curriculum.  As I was gearing up for the SOTU, I noticed that the White House had a week’s worth of Twitter chats lined up.  I thought to myself, “I have Twitter account, I should try it,” and it’s been all downhill ever since.

As a high school teacher, I’ve noticed that my students are quite adept at using social media.  The problem for the vast majority of them is that they use it for, in the words of the article, “fluff.”  I like to joke with them that most of their tweets run along the lines of “Why doesn’t he/she like me? #mylifesucks.”  The White House Twitter chats were a perfect opportunity for me to show them a productive way of using social media.  Now, I bring Twitter into the classroom when I can to give them more examples of positive ways to use it.  For example, when I saw on the @WhiteHouseLive feed that President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron were going to give a briefing today, I told my students, and we watched it as a class.  Many of my students were surprised that I had an account and a few quickly followed me; however, when they realized how exactly I use Twitter, they dropped like the flies on my desk at the beginning of the school year.

I use Twitter as a constant news feed.  Almost all of the accounts I follow fall into a handful of categories: journalist, scholar/topic expert, think tank, news publication, political party, government official, and government institution.  As such the overwhelming majority of my tweets deal with IR and EU news.  The only celebrities I follow are Steve Martin and Bill Amend (creator of the best comic strip on the planet, FoxTrot).

In the past two months since the SOTU, I have become addicted to Twitter ( I could quit tomorrow though, really I could).  It is my connection to others with similar interests and gives me a chance to voice my opinion or just share an article I found interesting.  In that short period of time, I’ve been able to connect and tweet with professors, think tankers, and government officials from not only the U.S., but also Europe.  I’m not that concerned that I have only 43 followers (as of today); I just enjoy reading other people’s thoughts and getting mine out there.

And that is how I use Twitter.  How do you use it?

Regards,

Jason