WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports Congressional Connection: U.S. Government and social media

Social media has eliminated distance.

"Just right in the room next door,'' U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson said last month, "I talked to over 3,800 Georgians for an hour on a tele-town hall meeting and handled questions and answers back and forth.''

It has also eliminated time.

"We used to have a policy,'' said Congressman Jack Kingston, "that we would answer letters within a month, maximum, we had to do it in a month. Well, now people want it in an hour.''

But mediums such as Twitter and Facebook have given a whole new intimacy to politics and government, creating the opportunity to not simply follow your representatives in Washington D.C., but to correspond with them and possibly even influence them.

"Social media is important as a means of communication because that's where a lot of people get the news,'' said Congressman John Barrow. "So, it's important to go where people are and reach them in ways that are amenable.''

"You can't hold public office and do your job and communicate with your citizenry,'' added Senator Saxby Chambliss, "if you're not technologically savvy.''

New technology has changed how public officials do their job.

It has done so from the campaign trail to daily activities in the nation's capital, where blackberries are now as common as business suits, and where tweets, texts and Facebook chatter cross all boundaries of age and political affiliation.

"I'm one of those guys who several years ago said I'd never have a car phone,'' said Chambliss. "Today, I've got not one phone in my car, I've actually got two phones in my car, an iPhone with me now, I carry an iPad with me now.''

And practically every day, practically every member of government uses all of those devices for more than updating statuses.

"If I want to find something about Jordan, the country of Jordan,'' says Kingston, "I can instantly get a quick little primer on it very easily.''

"It's all about communication and it's all about the ability and it's all about the ability to be timely and quick in response,'' added Senator Johnny Isakson. "We have twitter we have a Facebook page, we interact with our people all the time and we're happy to become friends with folks and communicate with them.''

But the political functions of social media seem as limitless as space on the Internet.

Candidates rely increasingly on voter identification to pinpoint campaigning. Facebook has become a valuable tool for political fundraising. Speeches are excerpted on Youtube. And it has never been easier to track constituent opinion. Or, Isakson says, cheaper.

"We get a million emails a year that don't cost the person anything to send it or me anything to receive it and we can send a million answers back,'' he said. "Multiply that by 45 cents for a stamp and you've spent some real money.''

But representatives have paid a price in the form of personal time and privacy now that social media has made them always available.

"I'd say it's constant,'' said Kingston. "I probably get, between texts and emails a hundred a day, easily. You want to be accessible to people but at the same time, we have to have private time to think.

"There used to be days when I'd ride down to Brunswick and I'd have a pager on and the Savannah office would call and say when you get to Brunswick, can you give us a call. Boy, do I miss those days.''

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