Health Insurance Values » HealthLog with Dave Keller

Politicians tweet all about it

I remember when communicating with your congressman meant picking up the phone or writing a letter and sticking it in the mail. Soon e-mail expedited the process. Now we can “friend” them on Facebook and tweet with them on Twitter. Interacting with elected officials is probably easier and more personal than ever.

Social media’s role in the 2008 presidential elections dramatically changed the way we gather political information and communicate with our politicians — as well as the way they communicate with us. Your elected officials have infiltrated Twitter, and they are easy to find.

You may enter their names in the search field at Twitter or visit Tweet Congress, a site that aggregates the tweets of senators and representatives into a stream. It also lists every senator and representative from every state, lets you know if he or she has a Twitter account and provides additional contact information. You may also search by location and name.

Their tweets range from the self-promotional to the snarky to the mundane — just like everyone else’s — but they offer up plenty of information, too.

Search Twitter for topics such as health care reform, and you will find a fairly balanced representation of the national conversation — health care and insurance professionals, republicans and democrats, users of all ages and mindsets. Try it out. You can keep up with who is saying what, 140 characters at a time.