國會新科議員爲社交媒體譜寫新篇

One lawmaker is the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the third most powerful person in American politics. The other lawmaker is a brand-new member of Congress, who ran for public office for the first time last year.
一位是美國衆議院議長，也就是美國第三號領導人，另一位是初出茅廬的新科衆議員，去年首次競選公職的晚輩。

But in terms of social media influence, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has the clear lead, passing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in number of Twitter followers this past week.
但是，談到社交媒體的影響力，來自紐約州的民主黨衆議員亞歷山德里亞·奧卡西奧-科蒂斯明顯領先，她過去一週來的推特粉絲超過了議長南希·佩洛西。

The 116th Congress is the most diverse in U.S. history and also one of the youngest. Twenty-five members of the new Congress are millennials, part of the generation born in the 1980s and later who are more comfortable with social media.
第116屆國會是美國曆史上最多元也最年輕的國會。新國會有25名議員是千禧世代，他們屬於80後出生的一代，對社交媒體的運用更爲得心應手。

Ocasio-Cortez leads this pack of newcomers, drawing national headlines by politically sparring with critics, livestreaming her home cooking, and talking about her plans for a "Green New Deal." The videos she posts give voters a glimpse of her personal life while providing behind-the-scenes primers on life as a freshman lawmaker.
國會新秀中的翹楚當屬奧卡西奧-科蒂斯。她與批評者在政治上互掐，直播在家做飯，並談論她的“綠色新政”計劃，吸引了全國媒體的矚目。她登出的視頻讓選民管窺她的個人生活，同時還讓人們對一位新科立法人員的幕後生活略知一二。

"Ocasio-Cortez stands out among everyone else. What she's doing is really quite groundbreaking in a way that we're quickly seeing others try to imitate," said Dave Karpf, associate professor of media and public affairs at The George Washington University.
喬治華盛頓大學媒體和公共事務副教授戴夫·卡爾夫說：“奧卡西奧-科蒂斯鶴立雞羣。在某一方面，她所作的真的具有開拓性，我們看到別人在很快地模仿。”

"There's an authenticity that she brings to that, that comes from starting out as an Instagram user and then developing this audience and using the communication tools she has to communicate with them. Rather than the other way around," Karpf said.
卡爾夫說：“她帶來了一種真實狀態，一開始她是Instagram的使用者，然後培養出了這批觀衆，利用她擁有的交流工具跟他們交流，而不是反過來。”

The 29-year-old Ocasio-Cortez used Instagram Live to take her followers through the post-election process of preparing to serve in Congress, demystifying an often obscure process so that voters could better understand what's asked of elected officials.
29歲的奧卡西奧-科蒂斯利用Instagram Live帶着粉絲走過她勝選後爲擔任國會議員做準備的經歷，揭開了鮮爲人知的這道程序的神祕面紗，好讓選民明白民選官員需要做的事情。

"The way new members of Congress — particularly the younger, new Democratic women in Congress — are using social media is emblematic of their new approach to leadership," said Molly O'Rourke, executive in residence at the American University School of Communication. "They have a distinct policy agenda and they have a kind of outsider appeal. So they're not going to play the game of communication by the same set of rules."
美利堅大學傳播學院駐院高管莫莉·奧魯克說：“國會新成員、特別是比較年輕的民主黨女性新議員使用社交媒體的方式反映了她們看待領導力的新方式。他們有與衆不同的施政議程，有某種局外人的吸引力。所以，他們不會遵守同一套的傳播遊戲規則。”

Ocasio-Cortez also used social media to make light of the anonymous release of a video of her dancing while she was in college. Detractors online said the video showed she was not serious. She responded by dancing in front of her new congressional office, writing "having fun shouldn't be disqualifying or illegal."
有人匿名披露了奧卡西奧-科蒂斯大學期間跳舞的視頻後，她也利用社交媒體對此加以調侃。網上黑她的人說，視頻顯示她爲人不夠嚴肅。她的迴應方式是在自己的國會新辦公室前跳舞，並寫道：“開心不應當使人失去資格，也不違法。”

O'Rourke said that video response "reinforces her authenticity and her credibility as a messenger who has unique appeal to a certain set of people, especially [young] voters and voters of color who are really ready to see those barriers torn down."
奧魯克說，她對跳舞視頻的迴應“加強了她作爲一名訊息傳達者的真實性和可信性，她對某特定人羣具有吸引力，特別是準備好要看到那些障礙被打破的選民、少數族裔選民。”

But Democrats are not the only lawmakers who are savvy at social media. President Trump's use of Twitter has revolutionized the platform as a space for real-time policy debates, convincing Republicans lawmakers of the power of getting their message out in new ways.
不過，對社交媒體使用嫺熟的議員不僅僅是民主黨人。特朗普總統在推特大顯身手，把這個平臺革命化了，使其成爲就政策問題展開實時辯論的空間。這讓共和黨議員們確信，一定要掌握新的方式來傳達他們的訊息。

Freshman Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, has a lively Twitter feed where he recently featured one of his hobbies: ax-throwing. Crenshaw a former Navy SEAL who lost an eye fighting in Afghanistan also used social media platforms to call out comedy show "Saturday Night Live" for mocking his combat injury and to push back on a House Democrat's criticism of President Trump.
來自德克薩斯州的新科共和黨衆議員丹·克倫肖有推特直播。他最近展示他的業餘愛好之一：飛斧。曾經是海軍海豹突擊隊員的克倫肖在阿富汗作戰時失去了一隻眼睛。他還利用社交媒體平臺敲打喜劇表演節目週六夜現場(SNL)嘲諷他的戰傷，並頂回一名民主黨衆議員對特朗普總統的批評。

But in terms of power on Twitter, the president cannot be replicated.
但是，在推特威力方面，誰也無法複製特朗普總統。

"I don't think many people are ready to replicate it because it's so unique to him," O'Rourke says of Trump's Twitter feed. "I think other Republicans and some Democrats are in awe that it's had some success for him but I don't think anyone is particularly ready to model it because it's a very distinctive brand for him."
奧魯克評論特朗普的推特說：“我不認爲很多人能夠立刻複製，因爲這是他所獨有的。我認爲，其他共和黨人和一些民主黨人對他取得的某些成功感到敬畏，但我不認爲有任何人做好了模仿他的準備，因爲這是他非常獨特的品牌。”

Traditionally, communications and media are one of the two avenues for lawmakers to build political power.
傳統上，傳媒是議員們打造政治實力的兩大途徑之一。

"We've always had politicians who are very good at the legislative maneuvering and also politicians who are very good at setting the agenda through playing to the media," Karpf said. He pointed out that new members of Congress such as Ocasio-Cortez don't have the structural power to marshal votes or lead committees, two forms of power that help shape a party's political agenda.
卡爾夫說：“我們總是既有那些非常善於立法操作的政治人物，又有那些非常善於通過取悅媒體來制定議事日程的政治人物。”他指出，奧卡西奧-科蒂斯這樣的新秀議員沒有權力架構，無法召集大批議員投票，也無法擔任委員會領導職務，而這是幫助影響本黨政治議事日程的兩大權力形式。

"There are types of power that Nancy Pelosi has that aren't measured by Twitter, nor should they be," Karpf said.
卡爾夫說：“南希·佩洛西所擁有的那種實力是無法用推特來衡量的，也不應用推特來衡量。”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday "the fact that a lot of people are following both Speaker Pelosi and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a good thing, and I would hope people would continue to keep listening to their thoughts."
衆議院多數黨領袖斯特尼·霍耶星期二對記者們說，“有很多人追隨佩洛西議長和奧卡西奧-科蒂斯女士，這是件好事，我希望人們會繼續聽取她們的想法。”

It's clear from the Twitter conversation sparked by Ocasio-Cortez' call for a 70 percent tax rate that media visibility has its benefits.
奧卡西奧-科蒂斯主張對富人徵收70%的稅，在推特上激起了熱議，由此可以看出，媒體曝光確實有益處。

O'Rourke said it may be too early in this new Congress to see if Ocasio-Cortez' social media clout can be translated into power to set the agenda.
奧魯克說，奧卡西奧-科蒂斯在社交媒體呼風喚雨的能力能不能轉化成爲在新一屆國會制定議事日程的實力，現在就下判斷還爲時過早。

Ultimately, social media could have the most influence by shortening the distance between elected officials and voters bringing everyone closer to the political process.
最終，社交媒體所擁有的最大影響力可能是縮短民選官員和選民之間的距離，讓每個人都更加走近政治進程。

"I'm hopeful," said O'Rourke, "given our record levels of cynicism and feelings about elected leaders that that can start to break down barriers."
奧魯克說：“我抱有希望。考慮到我們的憤世嫉俗和對民選領袖的感覺目前都處在創紀錄的程度，這有可能開始打破障礙。”