Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she was “thrilled” to show her Democratic colleagues how best to use Twitter and other social media Thursday morning.
According to Ocasio-Cortez, in reciprocation for her tutorial, Majority Whip James Clyburn is explaining what all the bells signify on Capitol Hill.
Class was in session this morning! I was thrilled to offer some insights on Twitter and social media to my. colleagues this morning.
Now Majority @WhipClyburn is teaching me what all the bells mean in the Capitol ???? https://t.co/pEGVZqqn2g
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 17, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez was leading a session of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and was joined by Democratic Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes. According to USA Today, their goal was to impart “the most effective ways to engage constituents on Twitter and the importance of digital storytelling.”
The fact that a 29-year-old freshman is teaching House members, some twice her age, how to navigate through social media is symbolic for Himes.
“The older generation of members and senators is pretty clueless on the social media platforms. It’s pretty clear that a lot of members have 25-year-olds in their offices,” running their social media, Himes told USA Today.
The youngest U.S. member of the Senate, Missouri Democrat Sen. Josh Hawley concurred, telling the paper, “For younger members, they think of social media as every bit of an established form of communication as print or television or radio.”
Ocasio-Cortez is an active user of social media. She tweets about events in her life and also reaches out to her extensive fan base on Instagram and Facebook.
She was quick to post news of her first public statement in the House of Representatives on Thursday. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Says Better To Be Morally Right Than Factually Correct)
Excited to have made my first remarks on the House floor today! ⬇️ https://t.co/9viKCsWiOM
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 17, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez appears adept at Twitter, and her role as a social media teacher to her party corroborates that notion.
But, like many others, she hasn’t always been so successful expressing herself over the internet. In roughly the past few months, she has posted a variety of statements of dubious veracity and questionable assistance to her political life, and just last week she seemed very unsettled after being fact-checked.
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, leaves a photo opportunity with the female Democratic members of the 116th US House of Representatives outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Jan. 4, 2019. (PhotoSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Ocasio-Cortez delivered a Twitter post in November that confused the three branches of the federal government, later that month she compared the migrant caravan on the U.S.-Mexico border to Jews fleeing the Holocaust and, in her Christmas message, the self-styled “Democratic socialist” likened Jesus Christ and his earthly family to refugees being turned away at the border. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Runs When Asked If She’ll Forego Salary During Shutdown)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez waves to supporters as she leaves for Capitol Hill. CBS News screenshot, Jan. 6, 2019.
In an Instagram post, Ocasio-Cortez bemoaned how a life of politics was forcing her to miss yoga classes and consume fast food.