The Hill News

Rep. Jackie Speier is happy to take suggestions on her tweets. 

The California Democrat uses her Twitter feed to promote causes she believes in and voice opposition to policies she wants to change. She has used the microblogging platform to push for change in the military's structure to handle rape and to chronicle her participation in a challenge to live off food stamps. 

And she does not pull her punches at the GOP; this week she blasted House Republicans for supporting legislation allowing hunters to import trophies including polar bears from Canada. She tweeted: "Dems want to save polar bears, Rs want to stuff them" and "Leave no hide behind!"

Speier held her first Twitter town hall earlier this week. Twitter town halls have become a popular tool for members of Congress looking to build on the tweets they've shared with constituents. But Speier told The Hill not everything went smoothly on her first try in this week's "Follow Friday" Q&A.

{mosads}The Hill Q: Do you write your own tweets?

A: Yes

Q: When did you join Twitter?

A: I was an early adopter to Twitter.

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

A: I like to tweet about momentous occasions and events so that my constituents can share the experience. I enjoyed “live tweeting” the Civil Rights Pilgrimage that I took with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and other political and faith leaders. Twitter allowed me to immediately describe the feeling of inspiration and compassion that I felt as I crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Another event that I was excited to “live tweet” was the Women in the World summit where I was surrounded by passionate women who are world leaders, community activists, entertainers, educators, and advocates. I was happy to quote Madeline Albr! ight who said, “There’s a special place in hell for women ! who do n ot help other women.” That one got A LOT of retweets.

Madeleine Albright speaking last night said "There's a special place in hell for women who don't support women"

â€" Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) March 9, 2012

Q: Example of a "best" Twitter moment? 

A: One of my best Twitter moments was when I took to Tweeting my outrage at Rush Limbaugh for his hate speech towards women who want access to birth control. I got almost 100 new followers in less than a week!

Q: Example of a "worst" Twitter moment?

A: My toughest Twitter moment actually happened earlier this week when I was doing my first ever Twitter Town Hall. Right in the middle of typing a response, the bell rang for votes and I had to sign off after 30 minutes so I didn’t get the chance to answer n! early as many questions as I would have liked. 

Twitter is a wonderful opportunity to broadcast important messages to a wider audience. For instance, I’ve been able to share video clips of my floor speeches about military rape with many more people than I could reach without Twitter.

I’m still learning a lot about Twitter and the best way to maximize the power of the technology. I welcome any and all tweets from people who can let me know how I can do a better job using it and what kinds of things people like to receive Tweets about.

Follow Speier on Twitter, @RepSpeier, where she has 5,429 followers.

Previous "Follow Friday” Twitter profiles have included Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky (Il! l.), Mike Honda(Calif.), Jim Himes (Conn.), Rush Holt (N.J.), Jared Polis (Colo.) and Judy Chu (Calif.) and Republican Reps. Bob Latta (Ohio), Glenn Thompson (Pa.), John Shimkus (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), Billy Long (Mo.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), as well as the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.