Congress gathering debt-crisis feedback via Facebook.

Today on CNN, it was stated that many of the members of Congress are turning to a digital platform more associated with sharing personal updates and funny videos about cats: Facebook. Over the last few days, lawmakers have swarmed the popular social network to post videos outlining their positions, conduct opinion polls, reach new constituents and ask for feedback. Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for Facebook said that "over the past week, our team has seen a marked increase in the number of members of Congress speaking directly to constituents through their official Facebook pages" and that the number of posts including video or radio snippets also has increased over the past week as lawmakers seek to engage their followers in new ways.
All of House Speaker John Boehner's Facebook posts in the past two weeks have articulated his positions on the debt crisis. A message by him on Monday had drawn more than 15,000 comments. In addition to that, congressional Democrats have been using Facebook to rally opposition to Boehner's debt-ceiling bill. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colorado, had asked Facebook users to sign his online petition which urged Congress to adopt a "sensible" bipartisan solution. Another Democratic, Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland had posted a C-Span clip of his comments from the House floor on Facebook.

In my opinion, I think reaching out to Facebook users for this is a good idea. This is "business" like, not too much of "personal". Noyes had stated that "facebook has become a critical channel for government communication" and I agree with him. In general, people are taking advantage of social media. He also stated that "politicians are only getting more creative with social media as the debate over the debt ceiling and other crucial public-policy issues continue." Imagine how it would be if Facebook wasn't here and Twitter. Politicians would still be trying to get their votes and voice their opinions the old fashion way. Social media has given people the opportunity to contact information and etc newer way. There is more to this article on CNN. The link is below.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/07/29/congress.debt.facebook/index.html?hpt=te_bn1