CorpComms Magazine

Members of Congress spend most of their time on Twitter promoting themselves, according to new research by the University of Maryland.

Analysis of more than 6,000 tweets made by Congressional members since February found that 80 per cent were either self-serving or status updates. There are currently 169 members of Congress on Twitter.

The study was designed to assess whether the social networking revolution had opened a new era of dialogue and interaction between politicians and their constituents. However, it found that the vast majority of tweets linked to 'self-serving' press releases or news articles, which were readily available elsewhere, or provided status updates, such as a tweet from a senator for Hawaii which read: 'Just completed weighlifting workout at the Nuuanu Y'.

Just seven per cent of tweets by Congressional members actually interacted with their constituents, the research claims.

Jennifer Golbeck, lead researcher and assistant professor at Maryland's College of Information Studies, said: 'Twitter by its nature is a very self-absorbed service. Politicians are very self-important people.'

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