When U.S Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, joined Congress in 1955, social media tool Twitter was ........ a long way off.

But Dingell's Congressional durability - the 83-year-old is the longest serving member in the history of the House - apparently does not preclude him from joining the social media world.

Dingell officially joined Twitter Wednesday in advance of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

Many business executives, celebrities and politicians use ghost Twitterers to handle their social media profiles.
 

But Dingell's spokesman, Adam Benson, said Dingell is sending his own Tweets. Benson provided this statement in response to a request from AnnArbor.com:

“The Congressman is a big believer in utilizing new media to spread his message. The office has used his web site, podcasts, e-newsletters, blogs, Google Maps, and Facebook to reach and maintain a dialogue with constituents.

“Now, he’s tweeting. The messages last night were from the Congressman himself. He looks forward to doing more tweeting in the future.”

Dingell had 43 followers as of 4:45 p.m. today.

Contact AnnArbor.com’s Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.