Since its inception in the Summer of 2006, Twitter has grown to become an important social media sharing site, able to disseminate information among its 300 million or more users across the world, breaking stories ranging from sports, politics and natural disasters.
Seizing upon the site’s popularity in recent years, the West Virginia Legislature has taken strides to increase constituent accessibility and legislative transparency by maintaining three separate Twitter feeds, one each for the House of Delegates and the state Senate as well as one for the West Virginia Legislature as a whole.
Coupled with the audio feeds offered on the legislative website, following the Legislature’s Twitter feeds, as well as those of lawmakers and statehouse reporters can give West Virginia citizens a real time, up to the minute view of what is happening in Charleston at the Capitol.
“Twitter’s an effective way to quickly distribute information of what issues are being debated and discussed at the Legislature at a moments notice,” said Senator Richard Browning (@SenatorBrowning) “It allows information to freely pass to our constituents further broadening the reach and transparency of the Legislature.”
The Legislature’s Twitter feeds (@WVHouse, @WVSenate and @WVLegislature) provide up to the minute updates of floor proceedings, action on the daily calendars and updated information regarding committee and floor meetings.
As an example, just this week the House Judiciary Committee worked well into the night discussing and debating legislation. To borrow a phrase, state residents from Matewan to Martinsburg and Wheeling to Welch, could all be tuned into what was going on in that particular committee by following along with the reporters covering it as well as the lawmakers assigned to that committee twitter feeds.
“Twitter helps us give play-by-play coverage of the Legislature in a way we haven’t been able to before,” Jared Hunt (@jaredwv) of the Daily Mail said. “As little as five years ago, all newspaper writers could do was give a postmortem analysis of what happened the day before, often times forcing us to sacrifice intricate details of the debate leading up to a decision. Now we can put our followers in the committee room or chamber floor as members ask questions or say what’s on their mind, giving our readers a chance to be better informed about the process and react to it in near-real time.”
Many lawmakers have also made efforts to become more accessible to their constituency by becoming active users of the popular social media website. Members tweet what meetings they are attending, how they vote on a particular issue or responding to inquiries by media or citizens who follow their feeds.
Delegates Troy Andes (@TroyAndes) and Meshea Poore (@MesheaPoore) both use Twitter to connect and inform their constituents. “Being able to use Twitter in my service to the 31st district allows me to inform and educate on matters of the district, and be accessible,” said Delegate Poore. “It is something that is real time and allows those that follow me to really be a part of the process.”
Delegate Andes concurred.
“Posting roll call votes on Twitter gives my constituents a way to see how I’m voting in real-time. This year, I’ve expanded my efforts by tweeting the roll call vote of each member upon passage of a bill,” said Delegate Andes. “ Social media lets me connect with constituents and immediately address their concerns, answer questions about pending legislation, and improve transparency in the legislative process all at no cost to the state’s taxpayers. The legislative process only works when citizens are actively involved and Twitter empowers anyone to become involved from anywhere.”
Twitter also allows a user to group Twitter accounts into lists, making following the action at the Capitol even easier. You could group together all statehouse reporters, West Virginia lawmakers and West Virginia Legislature accounts into one list making accessing legislative action even easier and more manageable to follow.
For a more complete accounting of the Legislature, please use all available outlets to your advantage. This includes the Twitter feeds mentioned as well as the streaming audio of committee and floor meetings and the West Virginia Legislature’s Facebook page.
