by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
It helps people stay in touch, remember birthdays and send event invitations, but local politicians are finding out it also helps them to better connect with their constituents and on the campaign trail.
More than half of the Jacksonville City Council has joined the more than 500 million active users that Facebook reports utilize its social networking web site. Facebook also reports that 50 percent of that population logs on every day, the average user has 130 friends and people spend more than 700 billion minutes each month logged on to the site.
Council members Bill Bishop,
Reginald Brown, Richard Clark, Michael Corrigan, John Crescimbeni, Ray Holt, Kevin Hyde, Glorious Johnson, Stephen Joost, Art Shad, Don Redman and Clay Yarborough were found on the site.
Redman created a page to keep up with friends and relatives and was surprised by the reach of Facebook.
“I was able to get in touch with friends I haven’t seen since high school,” said Redman, who turned 66 on Monday. “I was amazed at all the happy birthday messages I got. It was great.”
Redman also regularly posts his daily activities on his page. If he is going somewhere in Jacksonville on council business, it is listed on his page.
Council member Glorious Johnson found it was a good way to get comments from her constituency.
“It really helped me find out about issues as we were discussing the budget,” said Johnson, who is the leader among City Council members with more than 4,000 friends. “I try not to go over seven days without checking it.”
Council member John Crescimbeni inadvertently got signed on to the website, about two years ago.
“I was trying to monitor my daughter’s page and I inadvertently set up my own page,” said Crescimbeni. “It was before Facebook was popular and I thought it was called ‘Spacebook,’ which was a combination of MySpace and Facebook.”
Crescimbeni keeps in touch with his district through his City Council e-mail and only discusses City Council business with other council members during noticed meetings.
“I’m not the best one for returning messages on Facebook,” said Crescimbeni. “My wife is the Facebook person. She keeps up with high school friends and family with it.”
As mobile technology continues to evolve, it is becoming easier for people to keep up with friends and family wherever they go, constantly updating their pages. There are more than 150 million active users that access Facebook through mobile devices.
“What I don’t understand is how people have the time to constantly update their pages,” said Bishop. “I don’t care if you are eating ice cream.”
Bishop has found value in the website as he campaigns for re-election for the District No. 2 seat.
“It is a value, because so many people use it,” said Bishop.
Bishop is also among a group who use Facebook, but doesn’t post his City Council e-mails on the City of Jacksonville website, www.coj.net. The group also includes Corrigan, Crescimbeni, Holt, Redman and Yarborough.
“I don’t list my e-mails on the City’s website because I don’t have to,” said Bishop. “Everything we do here is public record and anyone who wants to look at my e-mails is welcome to, but I think it does a disservice to my constituents.
I don’t think it is necessary to post a perpetual ad to tell people what is going on in my inbox. If you want to know, all you have to do is ask.”
Bishop was the first to respond to a recent“friend request” inquiry followed closely by Crescimbeni and Redman. Clark had previously accepted the request.
City Council members on Facebook
Bill Bishop - 72 friends
Reginald Brown - N/A
Richard Clark - 314 friends
Michael Corrigan - 292 friends
John Crescimbeni - 155 friends
Ray Holt - 322 friends
Kevin Hyde - N/A
Glorious Johnson - 4,328 friends
Stephen Joost - 297 friends
Don Redman - 124 friends
Art Shad - 305 friends
Clay Yarborough - 767 friends