Politicians put to social media test

(WPRI) - On the campaign trail, politicians promise to be accessible and listen to their constituents. So we decided to put some of Rhode Island's biggest names to a "social media test" by asking them easy questions on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

Many of the Ocean State's politicians have accounts on sites like Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter. But does that mean they're really plugged in?

We wanted to find out, so we had Eyewitness News staffer Josh Davis contact and question several elected officials via Facebook and Twitter. And during our "social media test," we discovered that even though some politicians talk a big game, some are not as accessible as you would think.

• Social networking: Who's plugged in?

Here's how it all breaks down. The big winner, with a response time of three hours, was Congressman Jim Langevin.

"People want their information immediately," says Langevin. "I've always prided myself as being accessible and responsive to my constituents."

Another savvy user of social media was Congressman David Cicilline. His response time was about 16 hours.

"A lot of people communicate only through social media," says Cicilline. "So I think it's important to understand that it's a valuable tool."

We also reached out to Governor Lincoln Chafee. On April 5th, which was more than one month ago, we asked him on both Twitter and Facebook "Which branches of the DMV are open right now?" And instead of tweeting us back or responding on Facebook, we still haven't heard a thing.

Another leader we're still waiting to hear from is Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. On April 6th, we asked him, "When is your next community dinner?" When we told him no one ever responded, he told us he would work on a better response time.

"Obviously if we haven't gotten back yet, we need to do the turnaround," says Whitehouse. "A quick response should be our goal in this. It's a quick response media."

Sen. Whitehouse's office said no one responded because his next community dinner has not be scheduled, and an online reply will be provided when the event is set up.

As for some other political players, take a look for yourself:

• Providence Mayor Angel Taveras wrote back within three days.
• Cranston Mayor Allan Fung responded the next day.
• State Treasurer Gina Raimondo wrote back in four days.

So as this social media transition continues, just know that when you have a question for the people you voted into office, don't discount the power and timeliness of a simple tweet. "In the old days, people would have to find your address, or call you," says Congressman Cicilline. "That still happens, but a lot more is done through the internet."

We've also learned that some political heavyweights aren't even on Twitter or Facebook, like Senator Jack Reed and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian. We also reached out to Governor Chafee's office about his lack of a response. And once again, we received no response.

Here's a list of everyone we contacted and their response time:

• Congressman Jim Langevin - 3 hours
• Sec. of State Ralph Mollis - 10 hours
• Education Commissioner - Deborah Gist - 12 hours
• Congressman David Cicilline - 16 hours
• Cranston Mayor Allan Fung - 18 hours
• Providence Mayor Angel Taveras - 3 days
• State Treasurer Gina Raimondo - 4 days
• Gov. Lincoln Chafee - no response
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse - no response
• Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts - no response
• Sen. Jack Reed - not on Twitter or Facebook
• Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian - not on Twitter or Facebook

In the original version of our online article, WPRI incorrectly posted that Attorney General Peter Kilmartin did not respond to our question on Facebook. However, Mr. Kilmartin’s office has informed us that our question was posted on the Facebook page of his campaign, which is run by the group Friends of Peter Kilmartin. The Attorney General does not have a Facebook page in his position as a General Officer.