If, as has been suggested, giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys, then perhaps giving Twitter and Facebook accounts to politicians is like…giving Twitter and Facebook accounts to politicians.
At any rate, it’s probably too late now to second-guess the societal cost-benefit breakdown of that particular development.
In the Tennessee Senate, 29 of 33 lawmakers have an account on Facebook, and of those, 14 senators have an account on Twitter as well.
In the House, 60 of 99 total members have a Facebook account, but only 11 have Twitter accounts.
In other words, most state lawmakers have some presence on social networking sites, according to a TNReport survey of the statehouse pack.
Even the Legislature’s elder statesman, Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, has both a Twitter and Facebook account. Bear in mind, Henry first began serving as a state representative in the 79th General Assembly from 1955-1956, an era when color television was virtually unheard of and a full year before the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.
If this list is missing a legislator’s social networking account, feel free to send us a link and we’ll update it ASAP.
Senate
Sen. Tim Barnes, Facebook
Sen. Mae Beavers, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Andy Berke, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Mike Bell, Facebook
Sen. Charlotte Burks, Facebook
Sen. Stacey Campfield, Facebook
Sen. Mike Faulk, Facebook
Sen. Lowe Finney, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Ophelia Ford, Facebook
Sen. Dolores Gresham, Facebook
Sen. Joe M. Haynes, Facebook
Sen. Douglas Henry, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Roy Herron, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Jack Johnson, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Brian Kelsey, Facebook
Sen. Bill Ketron, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Jim Kyle, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Beverly Marrero, Facebook
Sen. Mark Norris, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Doug Overbey, Facebook
Sen. Kerry Roberts, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Eric Stewart, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Jim Summerville, Facebook
Sen. Reginald Tate, Facebook
Sen. Jim Tracy, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Bo Watson, Facebook
Sen. Jamie Woodson, Twitter, Facebook
Sen. Ken Yager, Facebook
Speaker Ron Ramsey, Twitter, Facebook
House
Rep. David Alexander, Facebook
Rep. Eddie Bass, Facebook
Rep. Harry Brooks, Facebook
Rep. Kevin Brooks, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Sheila Butt, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Scotty Campbell, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Joe Carr, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Glen Casada, Facebook
Rep. Jim Cobb, Facebook
Rep. Jim Coley, Facebook
Rep. Barbara Cooper, Facebook
Rep. Vance Dennis, Facebook
Rep. Linda Elam, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Joshua Evans, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Jeremy Faison, Facebook
Rep. JoAnne Favors, Facebook
Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Richard Floyd, Facebook
Rep. Jim Gotto, Facebook
Rep. Curtis Halford, Facebook
Rep. G.A. Hardaway, Facebook
Rep. David Hawk, Facebook
Rep. Ryan Haynes, Facebook
Rep. Matthew Hill, Facebook
Rep. Andy Holt, Facebook
Rep. Julia Hurley, Facebook
Rep. Curtis Johnson, Facebook
Rep. Sherry Jones, Facebook
Rep. Jon Lundberg, Facebook
Rep. Kelly Keisling, Facebook
Rep. Debra Maggart, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Pat Marsh, Facebook
Rep. Gerald McCormick, Facebook
Rep. Steve McDaniel, Facebook
Rep. Frank Nicely, Facebook
Rep. Gary Odom, Facebook
Rep. Antonio Parkinson, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Dennis Powers, Facebook
Rep. Bob Ramsey, Facebook
Rep. Barrett Rich, Facebook
Rep. Jeanne Richardson, Facebook
Rep. Bill Sanderson, Facebook
Rep. Cameron Sexton, Facebook
Rep. Tony Shipley, Facebook
Rep. Mike Sparks, Facebook
Rep. Art Swann, Facebook
Rep. Curry Todd, Facebook
Rep. Joe Towns, Facebook
Rep. Johnnie Turner, Facebook
Rep. Mike Turner, Facebook
Rep. Eric Watson, Facebook
Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, Twitter, Facebook
Rep. Kent Williams, Twitter
Rep. Ryan Williams, Facebook
Rep. Mark White, Facebook
Rep. Tim Wirgau, Facebook
Rep. Rick Womick, Facebook
2 replies on “Parliament of Social Media Whores?”
Judd Matheny’s link takes you to Gary Odom.
Your title is very dissapointing, Tn Report & its writiers should consider possibly take a journalism class.