Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill is big on communication. She's got a twitter account where she blasts out quick squibs about her life. She's a got a Tumblr page where she appears to be posting photos. She does all this, she says, because she appreciates the ability to communicate with her constituents. But this is the problem with the public sphere's quick embrace of Twitter. It's intimacy without communication. McCaskill doesn't actually say anything in 140 characters or less. The illusion of transparency comes because in everyday life, we only hear about the dinner plans of people we actually have a relationship with. What's useful about intimacy, however, isn't the exchange of trivia but the access to different perspectives. And I'd really like to hear her perspective! It would be rather nice if senators and congressmen routinely wrote posts explaining their thinking on major issues. A public service, even. Instead, they've all embraced Twitter. It's not just McCaskill. It's McCain and Dodd and Hoekstra and Boehner and a half dozen more converts every day. And that's no accident. Twitter allows the benefits of blogs -- an authentic connection with your audience -- without exposing you to the dangers of actual, substantive engagement. But if just a few congressfolk embraced blogs, it would be harder for others to resist. So c'mon, Senator McCaskill. You've already got the Tumblr page. Lay it on us. Let's have some real talk.
