Though it’s not surprising how quickly Twitter became subsumed into the established rhythms of political news, it’s a little disheartening. Here was a chance for our elected officials to interact directly with their constituents and to debate publicly with their peers, all while allowing us to see a more human side of these frequently caricatured public figures. Instead, we got retweeted compliments from supporters, bland updates sent out by a social media intern, and the occasional scandal. It doesn’t have to be this way. Some politicians are able to use social media in the way the rest of us are, which is to say they put out a staggering galumph of barely-considered text that gives us a pretty accurate picture of their train of thought and gives them cover from the occasional misstep. For all the scorn we throw at Sarah Palin’s Facebook presence (and not that Sarah Palin has been a politician for three years now, technically), her posts read exactly like what other people of Sarah Palin’s age and interests post on Facebook. Someone perusing her ramblings sans context could just as easily assume they came from your retired math teacher Mr. Goodwin as from the former governor of Alaska. That’s almost endearing; certainly you don’t leave asking “I wonder what Sarah Palin really thinks?”
I wrote about Hillary Clinton’s Twitter account and apparently endorsed Sarah Palin’s Facebook page?