	Introduction

Communication between Members of Congress and their constituents has changed with the development of new online social networking services. Many Members now use e-mail, official websites, blogs, YouTube channels, Twitter, and Facebook pages to communicate with their constituents—technologies that were either non-existent or not widely available 20 years ago. These technologies have arguably served to enhance the ability of Members of Congress to fulfill their representational duties by providing greater opportunities for communication between the Member and individual constituents, supporting the fundamental democratic role of sharing information about public policy and government operations. This report examines Member use of two electronic communication mediums: Twitter and Facebook. After providing an overview and background of each medium, the report analyzes patterns of Member use of Twitter and Facebook during a two-month period in 2011. This report is inherently a snapshot of a dynamic process. Thus, the conclusions drawn from these data cannot be easily generalized nor can these results be used to predict future behavior. In addition, electronic technology has reduced the marginal cost of constituent communications; unlike postal letters, Members can reach large numbers of constituents for a fixed cost. Data Analysis

This report analyzes the following questions related to Member use of Twitter and Facebook:
What proportion of Members use Twitter and Facebook? How often do Members use Twitter and Facebook? What are Members Tweeting and posting about? Methodology

For two consecutive months—August 25 to October 24, 2011—the Tweets and Facebook posts of Representatives and Senators who were registered to use Twitter and Facebook were collected. As with any new technology, the number of Members using Twitter and the patterns of use may change rapidly in short periods of time. Who Is Using Twitter and Facebook? Earlier studies of social media adoption showed that House Republicans were the most likely adopters of Twitter. During the two-month study, the observed Members sent a total of 30,765 Tweets and posted 16,239 times on Facebook, for an average of over 504 Member Tweets and 266 Member Facebook posts per day. House Republicans Tweeted a plurality of Tweets (48%) and a majority of Facebook posts (54%) over the study period. This was followed by House Democrats, who accounted for 29% of Tweets and 27% of Facebook posts. To assess the content of Member Tweets and Facebook posts, seven major message categories were created following an examination of Tweets and Facebook posts sent by Members during the study: position taking, district or state, official congressional action, policy statement, media, personal, and other. The next most common category was district or state Tweets and posts. These were followed by official action (17% of Tweets and 21% of Facebook posts), and policy statements (16% of Tweets and 16% of Facebook posts).
Communication between Members of Congress and their constituents has changed with the development of new online social networking services. Many Members now use e-mail, official websites, blogs, YouTube channels, Twitter, and Facebook pages to communicate with their constituents—technologies that were either non-existent or not widely available 20 years ago.
Social networking services have arguably served to enhance the ability of Members of Congress to fulfill their representational duties by providing greater opportunities for communication between the Member and individual constituents. In addition, electronic communication technology has reduced the marginal cost of constituent communications; unlike postal letters, Members can reach large numbers of constituents for a fixed cost.
This report examines Member adoption and use of two social networking services: Twitter and Facebook. The report analyzes data on Member use of Twitter and Facebook collected by an academic institution in collaboration with the Congressional Research Service during a two-month period between August and October 2011 and the adoption of both platforms as of January 2012. This report analyzes the following questions related to Member use of Twitter and Facebook:
What proportion of Members use Twitter and Facebook? How often are Members using Twitter and Facebook? How widely are Member Tweets and posts being followed? What are Members Tweeting and posting about?
This report provides a snapshot of a dynamic process. As with any new technology, the number of Members using Twitter and Facebook, and the patterns of use, may change rapidly in short periods of time. As a result, the conclusions drawn from these data cannot be easily generalized or used to predict future behavior.
The data show that, at the time of the study, 451 (of 541) Representatives (including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner) and Senators were registered with Twitter (83.4%) and 487 (of 541) Representatives and Senators were registered with Facebook (90%). During the study period—August to October 2011—a total of 30,765 "Tweets" were sent and 16,261 Facebook posts were made. The data show that
overall, registered Members sent an average of 1.24 Tweets and 0.63 Facebook posts per day; Senate Republicans sent the most Tweets per day (1.53 on average), followed by Senate Democrats (1.49), House Republicans (1.23), and House Democrats (1.09); for Facebook, Senate Republicans posted the most (0.84 on average), followed by House Republicans (0.71), Senate Democrats (0.53), and House Democrats (0.48); and the data also suggest that the top 20% of Twitter and Facebook users account for over 50% of the Tweets and posts during this study.
Use of Twitter and Facebook was analyzed by coding Tweets and posts into seven categories: position taking, district or state, official congressional action, policy statement, media, personal, and other. The data suggest position taking is the most frequent type of Tweet (41%) and Facebook post (39%). This is followed by district or state (26% of Tweets and 32% of Facebook posts); official action (17% of Tweets and 21% of Facebook posts); and policy statements (16% of Tweets and 16% of Facebook posts).