Linking with Constituents: Presentation of Social Media on Member of Congress Websites

Linking with Constituents: Presentation of Social Media on Member of Congress Websites

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October 8, 2015
Linking with Constituents: Presentation of Social Media on
Member of Congress Websites
Since Members of Congress first adopted social media, the
LinkedIn, Google+, Eventbrite, Scribd, Tumblr, Flipboard,
number of services to choose from has increased. Early
Picasa, Pinterest, Storify, and SoundCloud had at least one
adoption was mostly on Twitter. Initial studies showed that
Member who linked to his or her profile page.
as Members became more comfortable with social media
and constituents came to expect that Members would be
Survey Results
using the technology, the number of Members on Twitter,
The survey showed that three services have been almost
as well as other sites, increased. For example, in August
universally adopted by Members of Congress. These are
2009, 29% of Members had adopted Twitter as a way to
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Figure 1 shows the
communicate with constituents. By January 2013, 100% of
percentage of each chamber and political party that has
Senators and 90% of Representatives had adopted Twitter.
adopted these three services.
As a communications tool, social media provides Members
Figure 1. Links to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
with the ability to communicate directly with constituents in
Member Websites, 114th Congress, by Chamber and Party
a virtually instantaneous manner. In order for constituents
to find Member social media accounts, however, they may
need to either search for them using a general internet
search engine or find the Member on a specific social media
application. In either case, searching for a Member of
Congress could be time consuming, might result in a list of
accounts that the Member is not actively using, and could
result in false returns (i.e., accounts for individuals with
similar names or a campaign account). Instead, an alternate
method exists for Members to promote their social media
accounts: providing a link from their official homepage to
the social media account.
Each Member of Congress has an official webpage on the
house.gov or senate.gov domain. On this webpage,
Members promote material that is germane to the Member’s

official and representational duties. As such, many
Source: CRS analysis of House and Senate websites.
Members, in addition to information on policy positions
and available constituent services, include links to their
House Members of both parties link to Facebook (97%) and
official social media accounts. Examining the links from
Twitter (95%) at the same rate and almost at the same rate
Member webpages to social media accounts provides a
for YouTube (93% for Democrats and 94% for
glimpse into the type of social media Members are adopting
Republicans). In the Senate, Republicans link to Facebook
and using, as it is likely that Members will only link to
(91%) and YouTube (95%) more than Democrats (84% and
social media services that they are actively using to engage
89% respectively). For Twitter, 95% of both Senate
with constituents.
Democrats and Senate Republicans provided links.
Methodology
The number of links suggests that past trends in adoption of
In July 2015, the Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Twitter and Facebook across party and chamber continue in
conducted a survey of all 541 official webpages for
the 114th Congress. For example, in the 112th Congress
Senators, Representatives, Delegates, and the Resident
(2011-2012), CRS found that overall, 90% of Members
Commissioner. During the survey, CRS noted which social
were registered with Facebook and 83% were registered
media services were directly linked from the official
with Twitter. Broken out by party and chamber, 88% of
webpage. Additionally, information on the Members’
House Republicans had adopted Twitter and 95% had
political party and chamber affiliation were recorded.
adopted Facebook, while 80% of House Democrats had
adopted Twitter and 90% had adopted Facebook. In the
Overall, 17 different social media services were identified.
Senate, 78% of Democrats and 83% of Republicans had
The most common were Facebook and Twitter, followed by
adopted Twitter compared to 77% of Democrats and 81%
YouTube, RSS feeds, Flickr, and Instagram. Each of these
of Republicans adopting Facebook (CRS Report R43018).
services had at least one-third of Members linking to them.
While previous studies of links from a Member’s official
Additionally, numerous other services, including Vine,
homepage to social media were not conducted, the
prevalence of links to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
https://crsreports.congress.gov

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Linking with Constituents: Presentation of Social Media on Member of Congress Websites
suggests that Members want to communicate with
media services with at least one Member link divided by
constituents through these media.
chamber.
While Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the most
Table 1. Links to Social Media
prevalent social media services linked to from Member
House and Senate Member Websites, 114th Congress
webpages, they are not the only ones. The survey also
provided the first look into the prevalence of other services
Service
House
Senate
Total
used by Members. Three other services—Instagram, RSS
feeds, and Flickr—were linked to more than one-third of
Facebook
427
88
515
Members’ webpages. Figure 2 shows the number of
Twitter
419
93
512
Members, divided by chamber and party, who have links to
Instagram, RSS feeds, and Flickr on their official
YouTube
411
92
503
homepage.
RSS
269
34
303
Figure 2. Links to Instagram, RSS, and Flickr
Flickr
189
37
226
Member Websites, 114th Congress, by Chamber and Party
Instagram
101
36
137
Google+
23
7
30
Pinterest
12
1
13
Tumblr
10
1
11
LinkedIn
5
0
5
Vine
4
1
5
SoundCloud
4
1
5
Picasa
4
0
4
Eventbrite
1
0
1
Flipboard
1
0
1

Scribd
1
0
1
Source: CRS analysis of House and Senate websites.
Storify
0
1
1
The prevalence of connections to the next three most linked
Source: CRS analysis of House and Senate websites.
social media services are significantly less than for
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, which each have more
As Table 1 shows, outside of the six most popular services,
than 85% of Members providing a link to their accounts
the number of Members providing links to other social
That does not mean, however, that Instagram, RSS feeds,
media accounts is scattered. This does not necessarily mean
and Flickr are not commonly adopted by Members. Of
that Members are not using these social media services.
these three services, the most linked service in the House is
Rather, it might mean that they are choosing not to provide
RSS feed, which appears on 58% of House Democrats’ and
constituents with a direct link to the accounts.
64% of House Republicans’ webpages. In the Senate, 33%
of Democrats and 35% of Republicans provide RSS feed
For more information on social media and Congress, see
links.
CRS Report R41066, Social Networking and Constituent
Communications: Member Use of Twitter During a Two-
For Instagram, the number of links is higher for the Senate
Month Period in the 111th Congress, by Matthew E.
than the House. In the Senate, 38% of Republicans and 33%
Glassman, Jacob R. Straus, and Colleen J. Shogan; CRS
of Democrats link to Instagram. In the House, 23% of
Report R44081, Social Networking and Committee
Republicans and 22% of Democrats provide an Instagram
Communications: Use of Twitter and Facebook in the 113th
link.
Congress, by Jacob R. Straus and Matthew E. Glassman;
CRS Report R43477, Social Media in the House of
For Flickr, the opposite is true, with the number of links
Representatives: Frequently Asked Questions, by Jacob R.
generally greater for the House than the Senate. In the
Straus and Matthew E. Glassman; and CRS Report R43691,
House, 53% of Democrats and 35% of Republicans provide
Social Networking and Constituent Communications:
links to Flickr. In the Senate, 44% of Democrats and 41%
Members’ Use of Vine in Congress, by Jacob R. Straus,
of Republicans provide Flickr links.
Matthew E. Glassman, and Raymond T. Williams.
In addition to the six most popular social media services,
Jacob R. Straus, Analyst on the Congress
Members of Congress link to 11 other services. These range
in popularity from 7% of Senators linking to Google+ to
Matthew E. Glassman, Analyst on the Congress
one Member providing a link to Flipboard, Eventbrite,
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Scribd, Storify, and SoundCloud. Table 1 lists all 17 social
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Linking with Constituents: Presentation of Social Media on Member of Congress Websites

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

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