Twitter has a hold on more than half the House

Twitter is fast becoming a way of life at the House. Ninety-seven of the 134 House members have Twitter accounts, more than half (77) have tweeted so far this session and one-third make a habit of tweeting at least every other day.

The social-media platform’s main appeal for the Capitol crowd is speed. Twitter’s 140-character messages provide an immediate way to get the word out and follow legislative events in real time.

“You can track what is going on by the second,” said Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) — a key advantage at a place where she said “information rules.” Twitter has “sped up the spread of information and news incredibly fast,” said Rep. Peggy Bennett (R-Albert Lea).

MORE: See for yourself what House members are tweeting now (link works even if you don’t have a Twitter account)

Twitter “gives me the opportunity to get quick bits of information to my followers,” Bennett said. “It's real time communication.”

One drawback: “It’s hard to have serious policy discussions in 140 characters,” said Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley), “but it can be used to let people know what you’re working on and humanize yourself to constituents.”

Still, using Twitter to follow what’s happening at the House isn’t as common away from the Capitol. “Not many of my constituents use it to track the legislative process,” said Anderson. “That doesn't mean they aren't on Twitter. It just means they use it for other reasons.”

WHO IN THE HOUSE HAS THE MOST FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER

1. House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls): 6,093
2. Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul): 4,677
3. Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley): 4,076
4. Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington): 4,068
5. Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing): 4,026

Facebook is a more widely used social media platform and also allows for longer posts, but some — Rep. Jerry Hertaus (R-Greenfield), for one — prefer Twitter.

Petersen, who uses both, sees Twitter as “great for opinion-leader type people. Facebook is more for your regular folks” and better for communicating with constituents only because more people use it. “Everyone’s 65-year-old, 70-year-old grandma now has a Facebook account,” he said. “Twitter, not so much.”

That kind of generational generalization about who is using Twitter doesn’t seem to apply to House members. The 77 who have tweeted this session range in age from 21 to 85, with an average age of 48. They are also divided almost evenly between parties.

FIVE LONGEST-TENURED HOUSE MEMBERS WHO ARE ON TWITTER

1.  Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Mpls): 22nd term
2.  Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls): 18th term
3.  Rep. Gene Pelowski Jr. (DFL-Winona): 15th term
4.  Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul): 13th term
5.  Rep. Ron Erhardt (DFL-Edina): 11th term

Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Mpls), now serving her 22nd term, joined Twitter more than four years ago. She has since tweeted more than 3,400 times — including, as is common among heavier users, during committee hearings— for an average of more than two tweets a day.

A bigger factor than legislative tenure in how much House members use Twitter is the length of their tenure on Twitter. “New users play it safe with announcements of events. Old users use it as a forum,” Anderson said.

SIX HOUSE MEMBERS WHO JOINED TWITTER SIX OR MORE YEARS AGO

1. House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls), joined July 7, 2008
2. Rep. David Bly (DFL-Northfield), Sept. 2, 2008
3. House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown), Sept. 2, 2008 (five hours after Bly)
4. Rep. John Lesch (DFL-St. Paul), Dec. 24, 2008
5. Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester), Jan. 4, 2009
6. Rep. Tim Sanders (R-Blaine), Feb. 18, 2009

Even apparent inactivity — “Some are on Twitter a lot and some very little to none,” Bennett observed — can be deceptive. Any House member, whether they tweet frequently or infrequently, or even if they don’t have an account, can view others’ tweets.

“There are those who follow but seldom tweet,” said Hertaus. One such is Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington), who follows 1,435 others but has tweeted only 34 times since signing up with Twitter nearly four years ago.

WHO IN THE HOUSE FOLLOWS THE MOST ACCOUNTS ON TWITTER

1. House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls): 2,489
2. Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria): 2,102
3. Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center): 1,815
4. Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood): 1,689
5. Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul): 1,625

House members who are most active on Twitter are also among the most active as legislators, Petersen observed. Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing), “was very involved in a whole host of issues” in the last biennium. Winkler “is always at the forefront of the debates that he cares about.” Garofalo “is in the thick of his debate in his subject area — for better or worse,” he added with a laugh, referencing Garofalo’s several Twitter kerfuffles.

MOST FREQUENT TWEETERS IN THE HOUSE (tweets per day since joining Twitter)

1. Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria): 7.5
2. Rep. Nick Zerwas (R-Elk River): 7.3
3. Rep. Dan Schoen (DFL-St. Paul Park): 7.0
4. Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington): 5.0
5. Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley): 3.9

Indeed, for a few legislators, trouble on Twitter has turned serious, with tweets prompting ethics complaints in the House and Senate.

“If you tweet, be prepared for the consequences of criticism and fallout from ill-thought or insensitive statements,” advised Hertaus.

Commentary that went unnoticed before — whispered asides, low-key give-and-take in alcoves, committee rooms and hallways — is moving into the Twittersphere.

And “once it is on Twitter,” said Rep. Abigail Whelan (R-Anoka), “everyone knows.”