Presidents and prime ministers, South American strongmen and nearly the entire US Congress have used Twitter to press their political platforms. But has the blue bird helped or muddled their message?
In the seven years since its creation, the micro-blogging service, which has announced it is planning an initial public stock offering, has become the indispensable tool for lawmakers and leaders as they seek to shape their country's conversation.
Through it, they hope to release their message on their own terms -- often unfiltered.
When US President Barack Obama, the politician with a record 36.5 million followers, decided to end the suspense and declare re-election victory last November over rival Mitt Romney, he bypassed traditional media and tweeted his "four more years" claim to the world.
It became the most re-tweeted post ever.
Lawmakers of all stripes are embracing the digital technology, sending the news cycle into hyperdrive as they tweet out their policy positions, reactions to breaking news, and "selfie" photos with constituents -- all in 140 characters or less.
Twitter has become the crucial real-time media service for legislative drives and political campaigns, coming into its own during the 2012 White House race.
Politicians "really don't have a choice, they have to engage on Twitter," said Marcus Messner, a communications professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Staying off Twitter means staying out of some of the most engaging political discourse with supporters, campaign strategists, other politicians and journalists.
"It's important for politicians... To show a little bit of their personality."
That is why Senator Chuck Grassley tweeting a photo of the "biggest pig" at the Iowa State Fair last month was the right move. "It shows a human side," Messner said.
But the Twittersphere has rapidly dug some deep political trenches from which Democrats and Republicans are waging a fierce digital war.
US lawmakers are increasingly using Twitter to position themselves on issues like the debate over Syria, in which many expressed skepticism about Obama's plan for military strikes over the regime's apparent use of chemical weapons.
Twitter's political clout is growing internationally.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, where Twitter use has surged, has 3.3 million followers, while Narendra Modi, who on Friday was named India's main opposition candidate, has more than two million.
