It only takes 30 social media posts to influence your congressman

A survey of congressional aides found that eight in ten said just 30 posts on social media advocating for a cause or bill would be enough to make their office pay attention. More than a third of the staffers said that only ten posts could snag congressional attention.

"Most Americans think you have to be a special interest group with a big campaign involving hundreds of people to be heard by Congress," said Brad Fitch of the non-partisan Congressional Management Foundation, which conducted the survey. "But this shows that a couple dozen people can make a big impact by weighing in on a member's Twitter or Facebook page."

But concerned citizens have to be speedy: The surveyed staffers say they stopped checking constituent responses to a given social media post after about six hours.

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