Facebook Users in Survey Say Republican Pols Handiest With Social Media

Republicans Sarah Palin, Scott Brown and freshman Sen. Marco Rubio get high marks from Facebook users for their social media skills in terms of staying in touch with supporters and constituents in 2010.

Facebook, the wildly popular social networking site, asked its members this week to rank politicians and government agencies for their facility in using its pages. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, Sen. Brown (R-Mass.), Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) were rated highly for their regular but unobtrusive use of Facebook, the Washington Post said. More than 2.5 million have "liked" Palin's page. "Gonna have to go with Sarah, you betcha!" one user said. Another said Brown's team showed expertise in using the site "without appearing cheesy or boring."

Republicans outnumbered Democrats in favorable mentions in the informal survey. But Californians Jerry Brown, the next governor, Attorney General-elect Kamala Harris and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) got props for their use of Facebook. So did Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

President Obama, the Armed Forces -- especially the Navy -- the Veterans Affairs Department, the U.S. EPA and Disability.gov were also applauded for their Facebook pages.

Facebook said it looked forward to innovative use of the social network by lawmakers and agencies in 2011 as they seek to stay in touch with citizens and provide services to them.