I’ve been keeping a relatively close eye on #ny25 — a Twitter hash tag for the Congressional race between incumbent Democrat Louise Slaughter and her Republican challenger, Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks.

So far, Brooks’ followers seem to be Tweeting more and with a sense of purpose. When the Fair Elections Committee ruled against a Slaughter ad, the same people sent out the same Tweets for days — announcing the ruling as if it had just happened. That’s canny. You’ve got to have committed followers to do that.

Some of the Tweets are mean-spirited, though. There was one going around a day or so ago, “Time to Take Gramma’s Keys,” which is obviously a dig at Slaughter’s age.

I have no idea how effective Twitter is in terms of campaigning, but it is another weapon in the social-media arsenal. And it is fascinating to watch reactions play out in real time. People were Tweeting about things Maggie Brooks said when she met with the Democrat and Chronicle editorial board — while she was still there. And there have been times when Slaughter’s and Brooks’ reps have gotten into it over Twitter.

It’s an exhilarating time to be covering campaigns, that’s for sure.