16 of 17 Philadelphia City Council members are on Twitter

A year ago, six new City Council members made Philadelphia’s legislative body slightly younger, moderately more diverse and, it seems, more modern in their constituent services.

Joined by two other sign ups in early 2012 in an age in which social media engagement is tied to transparency, all of Philadelphia’s City Council members have Twitter accounts, except for one: 20-year veteran Jannie Blackwell, representing Southwest and West Philly, including University City.

Compared to peers, 16 of 17 is no embarrassment, as there are those big cities that are worse off, and, to be sure, it seems older legislators (and their staffs) have seemed more comfortable with Facebook (just like your older relatives, Blackwell’s staff uses Facebook and has among the most active audiences there), but the ability for public discourse online is rarely matched outside of Twitter.

To be fair, the accounts of council members Denny O’Brien, Mark Squilla and Marian Tasco have been inactive for months, and Brian O’Neill’s, among others, are inconsistent at best. But having the account is half the battle.

Find a Twitter list of all 16 Council members on Twitter here.

1. Mark Squilla (in office since 2012) @cmmarksquilla* joined March 7, 2011#
2. Kenyatta Johnson (in office since 2012) @johnson2serveu joined March 7, 2009
3. Jannie L. Blackwell (in office since 1991) **Only Council member not on Twitter**
4. Curtis J. Jones, Jr. (in office since 2008) @Mr4thDistrict joined June 30, 2010
5. Darrell Clarke (in office since 1999) @Darrell_Clarke joined Feb. 9, 2012
6. Bobby Henon (in office since 2012) @BobbyHenon joined Jan. 7, 2012
7. Maria Quiñones-Sanchez (in office since 2008) @MariaQSanchez joined Dec. 28, 2009
8. Cindy Bass (in office since 2012) @cmcbass joined July 8, 2009
9. Marian B. Tasco (in office since 1988) @mbtphillydem* joined April 30, 2010
10. Brian J. O’Neill (in office since 1989) @ONeill4NEPhilly* joined July 22, 2010
11. At-Large: Blondell Reynolds Brown (in office since 2000) joined @CouncilwomanBRB joined March 8, 2010
12. At-Large:  W. Wilson Goode, Jr. (in office since 2000) @Goode_AtLarge joined Feb. 3, 2012
13. At-Large: Bill Green (in office since 2008) @Green4Philly joined March 7, 2010
14. At-Large: Bill Greenlee (in office since 2006) @BillGreenlee15 joined Oct. 19, 2009
15. At-Large: James Kenney (in office since 1992) @JimFKenney joined Sept. 20, 2011
16. At-Large: Denny O’Brien (in office since 2012) @Denny4Council* joined Feb. 7, 2011
17. At-Large: David Oh (in office since 2012) @DavidOhPhilly joined March 25, 2011

#According to this site. *Don’t appear to be active accounts.

Check out some great numbers comparing Philly City Council with others from this Pew report.