Follow Friday: @RepMikeHonda

Just as New England congressmen need to be up on their fishing and Midwestern congressmen up on their farming, the representative of Silicon Valley needs to be up on technology.

Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.) certainly is. Since October 2008, he has been a prolific tweeter. On Twitter, @RepMikeHonda has 6,089 followers. He is also co-chairman of the Democrats’ New Media Working Group, which holds events to get members more engaged with social media including Twitter and Facebook.

Honda told The Hill his promotion of new media means confronting attitudes much like the one he once had.

“Before I was in politics I used to say, a lot of people used to say, the only time we see politicians is during the campaign and when you want money,” Honda said. “So one of the things I’ve always tried to do is adjust in my mind the way I do business.”

Honda writes tweets himself and also uses tweets written by his staff to reach out to constituents. He called Twitter “a good technique of personalizing politics and personalizing a presence with other people.”

Honda is the only member of Congress to win six consecutive Gold Mouse awards from the nonprofit Congressional Management Foundation. The award is given to the members of Congress who relate best to their constituents online.

Through the New Media Working Group, Honda has shared these skills with other Democratic members. In March he held a Twitter town hall where four or five representatives at a time came in and out of the event to discuss issues with their constituents via Twitter.

“It was a nice way to introduce more of the members to this new media,” Honda said.

There is always work to do in getting more Democrats to use Twitter. The New York Times recently profiled House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) rapid response Twitter staff and Republican efforts to use Twitter to refute Democratic arguments.

Honda pointed to the Mouse awards in response. “The announcements for the Golden Mouse awards came out, and Cantor’s name was there and he was mentioned as one of the recipients; but then there were quite a few Democrats that were named too,” Honda said. “The Gold Mice awards are predominantly done by Democrats.”

There were 12 Democratic and two Republican Gold Mouse winners this year. Cantor won a bronze.

Honda said that when he sees something worth making addressing on Twitter, he is aware of the limitations of the tool, and often links to Facebook or his website to continue discussions.

Honda said, “There are not enough characters in Twitter to conduct an argument, but certainly we can create direction toward dialogues.”

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