Follow Friday: @FinancialCmte

By Alicia M. Cohn - 05/25/12 06:00 AM ET

While it’s true that the House Financial Services Committee tweets a lot about banks and bailouts, it’s also the case that this committee is at the forefront of a lot of the issues of the day. Following the committee on Twitter means getting an inside view of the Republican committee members’ view on monetary policy, “too big to fail” and the Federal Reserve.

And yes, according to the people behind the tweets for the committee, sometimes those topics are hard to condense into 140 characters. Hear about it in this week's Follow Friday Q&A:

Q: Who usually writes the tweets for your committee account?

A: With 34 Republican members on the Financial Services Committee, tweets from @FinancialCmte are the product of a coordinated team effort. The Twitter account supports our members on issues within our jurisdiction and also reflects the priorities set forth by Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), @BachusAL06: A stronger economy, more jobs and no more bailouts.

Q: When did the committee first sign onto Twitter?

A: This weekend actually marks the @FinancialCmte’s Twitter birthday of three years.

It offers an excellent way for people to quickly and easily know exactly what is going on, 140 characters at a time. This is the people’s House, and we maintain an active presence on Twitter and other social media sites like Facebook and YouTube because the American people deserve access, transparency and accountability from their government.

Q: What do you see as the most significant purpose of Twitter for the committee?

A: Twitter allows Americans from coast to coast the opportunity to engage with the committee right as the issues they care about unfold. Equally as important, it also allows us the opportunity to inform the public about the committee’s policy priorities and efforts to help create an environment for more jobs.

Q: Example of a "best" Twitter moment?

A: We often live-tweet hearings. Last fall, for example, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was scheduled to testify before the committee, but that morning the hearing had to be postponed by three hours. We used Twitter to inform our followers about the time change, as well as to provide a link so that people could live-stream the hearing from their own computers (as we do with all our D.C. hearings).

During that hearing, Secretary Geithner admitted, on the record, that Dodd-Frank regulations will burden private-sector job creators and increase their costs. Not only that, he said that was “their objective.” Thanks to Twitter, we were able to draw a clear contrast between the administration’s policies and our own, even as the hearing was still going on. In fact, The Hill’s own Twitter Room picked up on it.

Q: Example of a "worst" Twitter moment?

A: @FinancialCmte has jurisdiction over the banking system, housing, insurance and securities and exchanges, all of which can be complicated at times. But the reality is that these are issues that affect every family in America. Our challenge is condensing complex matters into nice, neat, 140-character tweets. That is why in most tweets, we also include links where followers can click through to find more information on a given topic, either on our website, a news article or a video on our YouTube channel.

Connect with @FinancialCmte on Twitter, where the committee currently has 6,010 followers.

Click to find out all about @FinancialCmte's jurisdiction: ow.ly/b3hxV #FederalReserve #Treasury #HUD #FHA #FDIC
— Financial Services (@FinancialCmte) May 24, 2012