First and foremost, follow your representatives on Facebook and Twitter.

While not every elected official is new media savvy, more and more are using these formats to get out information and test the waters for support and gauge public opinion.  Register your ideas and opinions in the comment section on Facebook and help open the door for others to express themselves.

Tag and invite your representative to events.

Post your issues, ideas and events on Facebook and then tag. Tagging them to your own page about the issues you care about and activities in the community or at your organization will help them know what is happening around town.

Like and Share.

If you really like something your elected official is doing and they are taking leadership on your issue, like it and share it.  Tell folks why you also support this issue. When your representative is working hard, give them some positive reinforcement.

Chime in when you disagree.

When you disagree, be straight forward with your comments, talk about the issue at hand, and avoid personal attacks.  To be frank: keep it simple and don’t get into a Facebook pissing match.  If you get to this point, then you may want to suggest or even announce a meeting or community gathering to discuss the issue.