US Supreme Court: we're not on Facebook, what's Twitter?

US Chief Justice John Roberts was in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia on Saturday at the Fourth Circuit Judicial conference to discuss the inner workings of the US Supreme Court. As you can see in the video above, the Chief Justice was asked to comment on the court's use of social media and the risks it entailed.

Roberts said he doesn't have Facebook and he believes his nine colleagues also do not have an account. He also said they don't have a tweet, killing two birds with one stone: he managed to say that he does not have a Twitter account nor does he know what it is.

"Now I also appreciate that it's a generational thing, and the idea of not being connected in a particular way can be problematic for them," Roberts said. "Different members of the court are more adept at that than others. I don't think any of us have a Facebook page or tweet, whatever that is."

Chuckles quickly followed after his specific comments on Facebook and Twitter. Roberts also said he tells all incoming staff members not to post status updates, even when inadvertently referring to their work, stressing that they can unintentionally reveal confidences.

"I sit down with incoming clerks at the beginning of the year," Roberts said. "As soon as we get back, we go through a number of things they have to be aware of, and that’s one of them… it's new. I tell them that they obviously shouldn’t be tweeting about what they’re doing, or whether they have websites or whatever."

It's not really surprising that the court falls behind the general populace when it comes to technology. Social media is used as a tool by both businesses and governments, but when it comes to the Supreme Court, Facebook and Twitter don't have much of a role to play (yet?).