In between filming tours of the Capitol, hosting Q&As while making mac and cheese and quoting Cardi B on Twitter, it’s no wonder Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has been dubbed US Congress’ unofficial queen of social media.
And now other Democrats want in on her success.
The House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee tapped the 29-year-old congresswoman to teach her colleagues how to use Twitter “as an effective and authentic messaging tool” to connect with constituents, according to a notice sent to Democrats and obtained by CNN.
Ocasio-Cortez, who has amassed 2.42 million Twitter followers, confirmed late Wednesday that she would be teaching the class Thursday. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) will co-teach the session, which is open to all members.
Thursday‘s session will also go over “the importance of digital media storytelling,” a topic that has yet to be fully embraced by many members of Congress.
“The older generation of members and senators is pretty clueless on the social media platforms,” Himes told USA Today, noting that some members of Congress get 25-year-old staff members to manage their social media accounts.
Some members of Congress also fall painfully flat when trying to utilize digital platforms.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for example, used an Instagram live-stream to announce her 2020 presidential run, then was mocked on Twitter after she declared she was “gonna get me a beer.” Other congressional Twitter feeds look more like a bulletin board than a place for discussion.
Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, is effortlessly relatable on social media, giving her fans an inside look at life in Congress while also getting real about her policy positions.
In a live-stream of her new member orientation, she geeked over and over again as she showed off her swag bag, discovered what she called Hogwarts (more formally known as the Library of Congress) and did coin laundry.
On Wednesday, she tweeted photos of her and her staff looking for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) so they can talk about the government shutdown.
Even campaigns to smear her on social media seem to work in her favor.
When a right-wing Twitter account attempted to “expose” Ocasio-Cortez with a video of her dancing on a roof, it backfired by going viral in her favor. Then she made a new dancing video, this time at her office on Capitol Hill.
“I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous,” she wrote in a tweet liked more than 787,000 times. “Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too.”
She’s also quick to quip back at her haters on Twitter. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker attempted to mock Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal for a 70 percent marginal tax rate on annual earnings above $10 million with an analogy, but she used his own joke against him.
Representatives of Twitter and the House Administration Committee will be at Himes and Ocasio-Cortez’s social media session Thursday.