Mr. David A. Lieb, Associated Press, wrote a column and highlighted Rep. Ike Skelton. Rep. Skelton, 78, uses a Blackberry to Twitter to his constituents. Although the Missouri representative doesn’t own a computer at home he does use his BlackBerry regularly. He likes communicating directly to the voter (the people).
Mr. Skelton has occupied this seat for three decades. YES. Three decades. Now that is a long time. Mr. Skelton uses Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to obtain dirt on foes, raising money, and mass mailing information to subscribers.
The old saying ” you are only as good as those you surround yourself with” is true. It’s obvious Ike Skelton sought out qualified staff. He doesn’t need an engineering degree to understand that. Politicians and businesses today should seek out every opportunity available to expose their product and image. Information is either pushed or gathered. Pushing the data to subscribers is the standard. Having a static website with content is no longer enough.
Ike Skelton is not the only politician using computers, BlackBerrys, IPhones, IPads, Android, and Macs to disseminate information. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskell is heavily into Twitter. You can count on her tweeting a couple of items a day. Information about her kids and personal agenda are dull, but presumably this is done so she doesn’t look like a drone Democrat.
Rep. Ike Skelton isn’t the only congressional member that uses this stuff. Here is a listing of all the members of Congress that are using technology. The website brings two questions for me. Who has time to compile a list of Twitterers in Congress and do they get paid to do this? Just a curiosity.
