Who in Washington is joining the Twitter revolution

Congressional Twitterers include Sen. John McCain, who last year said he didn't know how to use e-mail. But don't look for tweets from President Obama.

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Over on Capitol Hill, the ranks of congressional Twitterers are growing. A few members – Sens. Claire McCaskill (D) of Missouri, John McCain (R) of Arizona, and Bill Nelson (D) of Florida – made The Atlantic’s recent list of "The 30 Washington Insiders You Should Follow on Twitter."

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Mullen, who started tweeting on April 3, also made the list. The presence of Senator McCain on there is noteworthy, following his famous admission during last year’s presidential campaign that he didn’t even know how to use e-mail – a point that surely hurt him among voters.

Others on the list, such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have learned the pitfalls of Twitter – namely, that it’s way too easy to push the send button on a thought that, upon reflection, should not have been shared. When Sonia Sotomayor was nominated for the US Supreme Court, Mr. Gingrich tweeted that she’s a “racist.” Later, he walked back the comment.

At the Pentagon, Mullen has been joined in the Twitterverse by the new chief of public affairs, Price Floyd. The two feeds are different in an important way: Mullen issues statements, such as his most recent tweet, on July 5: “Off to Moscow for the Summit. Looking forward to signing the workplan for better cooperation with the Russian military.”

Mr. Floyd (at Twitter.com/pricefloyd) often solicits feedback, as in this tweet from July 2: “checkout the nytimes story by Jane Perlez and let me know what you think: http://bit.ly/13DApl.” (If that link doesn't work, try here.)

Mullen is avoiding feedback on purpose, says Capt. John Kirby, his spokesman. “He’s so high level. He’s being careful to avoid overly personalizing them,” Captain Kirby says. Mullen’s goal, he adds, is to communicate what he’s thinking and doing, not start a personal dialogue.

If nothing else, communications specialists have concluded that Twitter is here to stay. Last year, between May and December, use of Twitter and similar services nearly doubled – from 6 percent of adult Internet users to 11 percent, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.