Foxx twitters her time away

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx is all a-Twitter.

The Banner Elk Republican is posting short status updates in a feed on the popular online site Twitter, a sort of micro-blog where each entry is limited to 140 characters.

Recent "tweets" — as they're called, somewhat annoyingly — have linked to a new count of the national debt, noted that she attended the National Prayer Breakfast and sat for an interview, and said she will be handling a bill on digital television.

"Positive day but fell flu coming on," reads a typical entry. "Heading home early. Big day tomorrow. Two big bills on floor"

A spokesman said Foxx started twittering at the end of 2008 and ramped up her use of the site when Congress went into session. She posts most entries from her Blackberry or her computer.

"Twitter is another medium for communicating with constituents," spokesman Aaron Groen wrote in an e-mail. "As far as social media goes, this hasn't penetrated as deeply into her constituency as something like Facebook has. But it's an easy, quick tool to get information out the door."

So far, Foxx has not had any problems with Twitter, though Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra recently got in trouble for posting on Twitter that he was on a secret trip to Iraq.