Skip Navigation
Rebecca Greenfield

Rebecca Greenfield - Rebecca Greenfield is a staff writer for The Atlantic Wire.

After Weinergate, Members of Congress Tweet Less

By Rebecca Greenfield
Jun 10 2011, 5:27 PM ET Comment

After what happened to their fellow representative, members of Congress have adopted more conservative tweeting habits

Two weeks ago Rep. Anthony Weiner meant to DM a picture of his package to an interested lady. Instead, he tweeted it to all his followers. Oops. It's an understandable technical mistake, the sort of thing that could happen to even the most seasoned tweeters. Which is why it's not surprising that since Weinergate began, members of Congress have changed their tweeting habits and become even more cautious. According to TweetCongress, which aggregates congressional tweeting behaviors, congressmen (and women) tweeted about 30 percent less after Weiner's mishap than before. Reviewing tweeting from May 8 through June 9, TweetCongess found a notable lull in tweeting from members of Congress after May 27, the day Weinergate began. The stats, by party, are in the infographic below.

weinergate-effect.jpg

Drop-down image credit: TweetCongress.org



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

'Black Lagoon': The First, Great Pretty-Girl-Attacked-By-Aquatic-Beast Film? The First Great Pretty-Girl-Attacked-By-Aquatic-Beast Film
Aretha Franklin's Platinum Year Aretha Franklin's Platinum Year
The Press Focused Too Much on Obama's Bio Back in 2008, Not Too Little The Press Actually Focuses Too Much on Obama's Bio
What Everyone's Missing in the Attachment-Parenting Debate The Surprising Roots of Attachment Parenting
10 Years After Its Premiere, 'The Wire' Feels Dated, and That's a Good Thing A Decade Later, 'The Wire' Feels Dated, and That's a Good Thing

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)