Social Media

State of the Union: 14 Things Members of Congress Did On Social Media

There's at least one trend that no one has seen before

By Jan. 29, 2014
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As members of Congress listened to Obama make his speech, they did much more than clap or pointedly hold their applause. They poured a deluge of tweets and Vines and Instagram photos onto the Internet, with the speed and tenacity of 13-year-old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Here are 14 different things that our elected representatives used social media to do on State of the Union night in 2014, some more expected than others.

14. To show everyone the views you get when you have the best seats in the House:

13. To explain why we wouldn’t be hearing from them during the speech (because paying attention is not a sufficient excuse):

12. To call Obama a socialist dictator. And make puns!

11. To post bipartisan selfies:

10. To brag about fruits of their close physical proximity to Obama: 

9. To send out pre-recorded, six-second video criticisms of Obama, next to a bust of Ronald Reagan where possible:

8. To promote an official Republican response to the speech: 

7. To promote somewhat less official responses to the speech: 

6. To fact-check Obama’s speech, with a partisan bent, in real time. Republicans livestreamed SOTU on YouTube with a split screen showing statistics that countered Obama’s rhetoric:

YouTube screen shot Republican SOTU
5. To go on defense for Obama’s signature healthcare act, ’90s style:

4. To take selfies while waiting to do interviews: 

And while doing interviews …

And just hanging with their interviewers.

3. To post a (promoted) response to Obama’s speech: 

2. To show everyone how they did in State of the Union bingo: 

1. And, in a surprising new twist, to talk about meeting members of the Duck Dynasty cast, who were invited by Rep. Vance McAllister. [Insert lame duck joke here]: