How Many Governors Are Using Social Media?

Not long ago state governments were ambivalent about using social media to connect with citizens. Those days are over, if the use of the most popular sites by the nation’s governors is any guide. Some 47 of the 50 governors are using Facebook and Twitter, according to a recent Stateline examination of these services; 27 are using the photo-sharing service Flickr and 37 use YouTube. Of course, status updates and tweets are often the work of staffers, not the governors themselves. And it’s reasonable to wonder whether feeds of P.R. about ribbon cuttings and bill signings are any more informative than an old-fashioned press release. But one thing’s for certain: Americans have more ways than ever to keep up with what the people they elect want to tell them.