John McCain: One of the Senate's Seven 'Twitter Geniuses'
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Quick: What's the best way for a politician to broadcast short, nearly-incomprehensible missives to the world? No, it's not by hacking into Wolf Blitzer's teleprompter before The Situation Room. Twitter! Here are the seven scientifically-determined "Twitter geniuses" of the Senate.
Much like real geniuses, these Twitter geniuses have earned the title by creating some of the most important culture and knowledge our planet has ever known. No, wait. They just have a shitload of followers on Twitter and tweet all the time. Researchers at George Washington University developed a formula to measure "Digital IQ," which they say is the "definitive benchmark for online competence." (previously, that benchmark was how quickly one could find and download a free copy of the Paris Hilton Sex Tape.)
Using that measure, they have determined that these seven Senators are "Twitter Geniuses," for their wealth of followers and tweets:
- 1. John McCain (R-AZ)
- 2. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
- 3. Scott Brown (R-MA)
- 4. John Cornyn (R-TX) Tied
- 4. Harry Reid (D-NV) Tied
- 4. Al Franken (D-MN) Tied
- 5. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Hopefully these Twitter Geniuses will each be granted $1 million MacArthur Twitter Genius grants, which will fund one year of non-stop tweeting. Jim DeMint has announced his plan to use his grant to accomplish his life goal of getting John Mayer to follow him. Scott Brown will spend his year tweeting abroad, at the Sorbonne in Paris. Barbara Boxer will continue her work in attempting to screen-capture and study the elusive 141-character tweet. And John McCain will take some time off from the Senate to craft the follow-up to his renowned 2010 work, "Twitter-flirting with Snooki," which critics have hailed as the Ulysses of pointless bullshit. [Politico]