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Can social media change the way lawmakers connect with constituents?

A report released on Wednesday found that as few as 30 comments on a legislator's social media post could prompt action from many members of Congress and their staff. The speed and immediacy of social media may be changing the way lawmakers interact with citizens in their districts, researchers say.

Traditionally, getting to see a member of Congress can be a daunting task, filled with negotiations with staffers, scheduling conflicts, and even form letters that seem to respond only vaguely to citizens鈥� concerns.

But on social media, a relatively small number of comments can grab the attention of lawmakers and their staff, a new released on Wednesday found.

Less than 30 comments on a lawmaker鈥檚 own post on sites like Facebook and Twitter would prompt congressional staff to pay attention, 80 percent of staffers in a survey by the non-profit Congressional Management Foundation said.

The key ingredient in prompting a response? Time. While 54 percent of the staffers said they would review comment posted 6 hours ago, only 23 percent said they would review a comment older than a week.

鈥淚 think the speed with which there鈥檚 exchange between constituents [and legislators] is just dramatically different, both how quickly they get it and quickly they may or may not respond,鈥� says Jason Gainous, a political science professor at the University of Louisville who has studied social media鈥檚 influence on politics.

Less than 10 comments would prompt action from 35 percent of the 116 House and Senate staff surveyed, buoyed by lawmakers鈥� growing use of social media. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said it didn鈥檛 matter how old the comments were, they would still review them, though it鈥檚 unclear what action would result.

The report鈥檚 authors pointed to the power of social media to connect lawmakers more directly with their constituents.

"The authenticity of a tweet or Facebook post, whether by a citizen or lawmaker, has the inescapable power to change minds," said Bradford Fitch, the non-profit foundation鈥檚 president, who co-authored the report, in a . The report 鈥渙pens a window into the perceptions and motivations of how social media influences public policy decisions on Capitol Hill,鈥� he added.

But Professor Gainous says the report raises questions about whether there is truly two-way communication between legislators and constituents, or if constituents are simply responding to what can feel like a set of prepared statements, sometimes written by staffers rather lawmakers themselves.

Some research suggests that legislators are increasingly using the technology to announce policy proposals, and not just for campaigning.

A 2012 by public affairs students at the University of Texas at Austin that looked at three months of tweets from members of Congress found a political divide between what information lawmakers shared, particularly on Twitter.

Republicans often used social media to announce official congressional actions, while Democrats focused more on issues in their districts and states, says Sherri Greenberg, a clinical professor at UT Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a former Texas legislator.

Both members of Congress and congressional committees, the subject of another study in 2014, were twice as likely to use Twitter than Facebook, the researchers found.

"You don鈥檛 have to use good grammar, you can鈥檛 in fact," Professor Greenberg says. "Twitter is seen as that rapid, 24/7 communication tool, and so members and others were much more likely to tweet."

But two-way conversations were more unusual, she says.

"At least at that point, it was being used to get information out, but less in a two-way conversation mode," though there were some instances of lawmakers using the platform to converse directly with constituents, Greenberg says. Surprisingly, while there were many younger members using Twitter, older lawmakers used the platform as well.

Gainous says social media is particularly useful for lawmakers as a way to engage like-minded constituents who may already be familiar with their goals and political viewpoint.

鈥淚鈥檓 inclined to think that what they鈥檙e doing is preaching to a receptive audience. Some super-liberal and super-conservative isn鈥檛 going to go follow someone that they don鈥檛 like, so I don鈥檛 know that they have to do a lot of convincing," he says.

That also fulfills a more self-interested goal for lawmakers 鈥� getting re-elected.

鈥淟egislators and legislative staff, their decisions are instrumental, they鈥檙e incentive-driven,鈥� he notes. 鈥淚f you could ask them further questions, what you鈥檇 get is that [responding to a constituent鈥檚 post] either provided them an opportunity or it didn鈥檛, it鈥檚 beneficial to their underlying goal of securing their positions.鈥�

How they choose to use social media may also reveal a divide between how lawmakers behave on Capitol Hill and how they engage with constituents in their district, often known as 鈥渉ome style,鈥� a coined by political scientist Richard Fenno in a 1978 book, he added.

Despite ongoing debates about its impact on governance, many lawmakers and prospective presidential candidates have increasingly embraced the immediacy and connection of social media.

But it can be a minefield. For every Donald Trump, there are also lawmakers undone by poorly-worded or social media posts. One of the most striking examples is Rep. Aaron Schock, (R) of Illinois, who in March amid rumors of lavish spending documented in part by posts on his Instagram page, along with a scandal over racist social media by his former communications director.

The picture has changed somewhat since 2011, when the foundation Congress鈥檚 social media use.

In that survey, 77 percent of staffers said attending events in lawmakers鈥� districts was 鈥渧ery important鈥� to understanding constituent concerns, but many staffers classified social media as 鈥渟omewhat important鈥� instead, with only 4 percent of those surveyed describing Twitter as 鈥渧ery important.鈥�

Greenberg, the political scientist in Texas, says she is curious to see how legislators use newer social media platforms to better connect with constituents, both on and off the campaign trail. She singles out the recent use of Snapchat by presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush.

"I think that the question is, will it continue to where it鈥檚 more conversational, either with media or [special] interests or associations, or 鈥� most importantly 鈥� with constituents," she says.