My Practices for Using Twitter as an Elected Official

[Twana Blevins]

I very much enjoy the ability to utilize new forms of communicationwith constituents. This is a unique time in history because these
forms of communication are quickly evolving.



I was introduced to the idea of using Twitter by Edmond Senator Clark

Jolley who was probably the first Oklahoma legislator to make use of

the service. In the summer of 2008, I started using the service and

over the course of the past two years, I have observed and attempted

to apply what I believe to be a set of best practices.



I have determined that the main focus of my use of Twitter as an

elected official will be to provide resources to my constituents.



For example, I have found that one of the greatest strengths provided

by Twitter is that of an excellent real-time distribution network for

documents which would otherwise remain largely inaccessible to the

taxpayers. For instance, prior to a recent local school bond election,

I received an e-mail from a constituent. He wanted to know how his

local property taxes compared to other school districts in the state.

We requested the information from the Oklahoma Tax Commission and

subsequently posted a link to the document using Twitter and Google

documents (the document is available at ping.fm/W8V67).



As a result, voters were allowed instance access to data which is

probably not available anywhere else on the web (although it should

be). Because of Twitter, the link to the document was instantly

available to a wide purview and could be forwarded through e-mail and

other social media. The potential impact of the proposal on local

property taxes compared to the tax of surrounding districts had been

an issue of dispute up until that point, but with the publication of

this document the voters could see the exact impact of the proposal.



During the last session of the legislature, Twitter provided an avenue

for informing constituents of upcoming votes of interest in the House.

Voters can now observe the House debating bills online at okhouse.gov.

While it is true that an agenda is posted on the House website, the

actual debate and vote on a bill can occur at any time, or not occur

at all. Twitter allowed me to alert voters to issues of interest where

I was able to attach a link to the live broadcast of the debate.



I have also observed Twitter practices which I have determined to

avoid. The foremost practice which I have determined not to emulate is

that of using the network as a forum for launching partisan attacks. I

view the service as an excellent opportunity to share information that

will allow voters to make decisions on their own without

editorializing against or demonizing those who have a different point

of view. I have found that elected officials can appear especially

partisan when they are forced to make a statement in the 140

characters or less allowed by Twitter. It is my intent to use the

service as a positive venue and not as a political attack tool.



If you are interested in following my Twitter account, you may do so

at twitter.com/jwmurphey.



-- 

State Representative Jason Murphey

Chairman Government Modernization Committee

State Capitol Building - Room #400B

2300 North Lincoln Blvd

Oklahoma City, OK 73105

1(405) 557-7350 (Office)

1(405) 315-5064 (Cell)

http://www.HouseDistrict31.com

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