Youngest US Congresswoman to give colleagues Twitter lessons

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to serve in the US Congress, is set to give her Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives lessons on how to use Twitter in a more effective way.

Ocasio-Cortez, 29, will be leading the discussion along with fellow Democrat, Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, on Thursday to "discuss how they use Twitter as an effective and authentic messaging tool to connect with their constituents" and "the importance of digital storytelling", CNN quoted a notice sent to Democratic House members, as saying on Wednesday.

The young Congresswoman, who represents New York's 14th District, has 2.4 million followers on her campaign Twitter handle, surpassing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2 million followers on her official account.

She frequently hits back at critics on the platform which goes viral.

Earlier this month a video of Ocasio-Cortez gleefully dancing when she was in college surfaced on Twitter, where the poster of the clip described the Congresswoman as a "clueless nitwit".

Ocasio-Cortez shot back at critics by posting a video on Twitter of her dancing in front of her congressional office with the caption, "I hear the GOP (Republicans) thinks women dancing are scandalous. Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too!"

The video has garnered 20.5 million views.

She also uses social media to speak directly to constituents and viewers in a way members of Congress have rarely done before, CNN said.

Ocasio-Cortez frequently hosts "Instagram Live" sessions where she answers questions submitted by viewers on the platform. One of her Instagram accounts has amassed 1.8 million followers.

The freshman Democrat took office in January after running an efficient grassroots campaign in the party primary where she unseated former Representative Joe Crowley, who was the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House and a 10-term congressman in New York.

--IANS

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