Twitter, the microblogging website that allows users to post status updates of 140 characters or less, is no longer a portal just for  technology geeks or internet stars. News agencies, nonprofits, celebrities and television shows are joining in droves, as is evident by the microblogging service generating 4 million unique visitors in the U.S. to its website in February 2009.

However, long before you could follow The Ellen Show or Ashton Kutcher on Twitter, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley was posting (also called “tweeting”) with the service while at events in Iowa (see Grassley’s first tweet from November 26, 2007).

Tweets from the Senator encompass what he is up to during the day and read as if he was holding a conversation one-on-one with his audience.

Whether it be “Ran in 45degree weather Tues morn. On way frigid iowa. Don’t LOL. TTYL” or “Just finishd hour long meeting in Rep caucus w Obama. He was recd well. Good discusion on stimulus and recession,” Grassley uses the 140-character platform to inform his 4,900+ followers about current issues, upcoming appearances and his role as a representative of the state of Iowa.

In February 2009 Grassley made Politico.com’s list of “10 most influential D.C. Twitterers,” which is impressive considering the number of legislators now joining the flock in D.C. tweeting with their constituents.

Tweet Congress Tracks Legislators on Twitter

The number of Congress members using Twitter has grown so much that a website called Tweet Congress launched to help citizens track which of their legislators were on Twitter (and enables users to petition those who’ve not yet made the jump).

Of the seven legislators serving the state of Iowa, just three are active on Twitter, with Grassley greatly overshadowing the others in terms of followers, number of messages posted and time using the service.

Iowa Legislators on Twitter

• Sen. Charles Grassley joined Twitter in November 2007 and has posted the majority of his 130 updates via text message. Follow @chuckgrassley for updates.
• Rep. Thomas Latham joined Twitter in November 2007, but has only posted 15 updates since then. He is becoming more active in recent months. Follow @tomlatham for updates.
• Rep. Leonard Boswell joined Twitter in March 2009 and is excited about it. Follow @leonardboswell for updates.

Iowa Legislators NOT on Twitter

• Sen. Thomas Harkin isn’t on Twitter. Sign the TweetCongress petition asking him to join.
• Rep. Bruce Braley isn’t on Twitter. Sign the TweetCongress petition asking him to join.
• Rep. Steve King isn’t on Twitter. Sign the TweetCongress petition asking him to join.
• Rep. Dave Loebsack isn’t on Twitter. Sign the TweetCongress petition asking him to join.

Follow the Iowa Hospital Association on Twitter

As IHA continues to stay on top of developing trends, we’ve also launched a Twitter account of our own (@iowahospital) to keep interested parties aware of relevant information and announcements.

You can visit our Twitter profile and read the latest updates, or create an account on Twitter and subscribe to our updates by clicking the “Follow” button on our Twitter profile.