Rhode Islanders express feedback towards their elected officials in various ways, but the Internet has become the de facto method of communication for constituents and their representatives in government. State lawmakers must meet voters where they are, and quite often that means on social media, on the web, and via their inbox. It is also important to maintain public accountability in person, and so we tally public "town-hall" style meetings in addition to online outreach. Our rankings hope to highlight which members are doing their best to engage with their voters online and in public forums.

Social media usage this year trended similarly to 2021, with some legislators making heavy use of the medium and others only making use of the medium for campaign and election purposes. The vast majority of legislators did not respond to comments on their posts, but many of those who did put in great effort to do so. In the Senate, Alana DiMario  was a stand out for responding to a large number of comments on both Facebook and Twitter. She explained her positions, and even did so when the comment was from someone merely trying to troll the legislator. Elaine Morgan and Jessica de la Cruz responded to a large number of comments on Facebook, but not so on Twitter. Those who were most prolific in responding to comments on Twitter were progressives Tiara Mack, Sam Bell, and Kendra Anderson, with Senator Calkin closely behind.

In the House, outgoing Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell was the most engaged social media user, not only posting often, but responding to nearly every comment that warranted a response on both Twitter and Facebook. Overall, Reps Leonella Felix and Susan Donovan responded to the most comments on Facebook, while conservatives Patricia Morgan and Brian Newberry took the honors on Twitter.

Most impressive this year were the number of legislator websites that were not only fully mobile compliant, but that looked like professionally designed websites that would rival one for an established business. Members of the GA are doing a great job, overall, of improving upon their websites and including important information for constituents. Disappointingly, there were a handful of legislators that have absolutely no digital presence nor public outreach whatsoever. These legislators have no social media accounts, no website, and did not report any public meetings for constituents this past year:

• Walter Felag
• Roger Picard
• Gordon Rogers
• Frank Lombardo
• Dennis Algiere
• Brian Patrick Kennedy
• Edward Cardillo
• James McLaughlin
• Mary Messier
• Arthur Corvese (has a FB profile, but the only post is a photo of himself)

Lastly, we surveyed members of the GA and found that very few continue to hold public meetings with constituents. Senators de la Cruz and Bell continue to lead the Senate in this category, and as in years past hold a distant lead over the rest. In the House, Rep Kislak led the way with Rep Morales following. Overall, just 8 of the GA's 113 members reported having held in-person public meetings with their constituents. Some explained their reasoning: "Nobody comes.", "I held one last year and nobody showed up.", "I prefer to meet with my constituents one on one." While these excuses may seem reasonable, it is important to point out that the top two performing senators in this category represent both one of the more populous areas and of the least populous areas in the state, respectively. With good turnout for these meetings,  despite them occurring on a regular basis, it reasons to believe that other legislators may not be announcing these events properly.