Inside Democrats' new online strategy Copyright by WWLP - All rights reserved Video

Brian Stelter, CNN - (CNN) - Democrats may be done licking their wounds from the general election. After losing the White House, the Senate and the House, they are plotting their comeback using one of President Donald Trumps' favorite tools - social media.

Trump has been lining up feather-ruffling tweets since his inauguration, but on Capitol Hill, the Democrats have been flocking to social media too.

They're upping their ‘app-titude' for a new era of political communication.

Adam Conner, former Public Policy Manager for Facebook, says, "The tools are more limited for, say, the minority party right now. The more attention they can draw to something, the more likely it is they are able to get some kind of victory out of it."

Adam Conner helped open Facebook's first Washington office. For years now he has been helping members of Congress learn how use social media. "Donald Trump has demonstrated that social media is a tool that can have power and authenticity and is something that they can no longer ignore."

Minority leader Chuck Schumer is overhauling the Democratic Media Center and implementing a broad new strategy. He says, "We are reaching the American people where they are. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter. Hi, everybody."

It's just in time for controversial confirmation hearings that most constituents didn't watch live. What many did see was short, sharable snippets meant to sway their opinion

"Is that a yes or a no?" "That's an I support accountability." "Do you not want to answer my question?"

That clip of then Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos received more than 25 million views on Senator Schumer's Facebook page. In response to EPA nominee Scott Pruitt, Senator Cory Booker posted his floor speech. And Hawaii's Senator Brian Schatz posted a series of hash-tagged memes touting the EPA's importance.

Earlier this month, Republicans stopped Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from presenting an opposing view of then Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions from Coretta Scott King.

Warren said at the time, "I am surprised that the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States Senate."

So, she logged on to Facebook Live. "I just want to read the letter."

Conner says, "It used to just be the moment on the day of the hearing was when people paid attention to it. But now you have this after effect. It's the memes, it's the unflattering clips, so it really is a full cycle that the nominees have to kind of weather."

After President Obama's inauguration in 2009, Republicans stepped up their social media game as well - beginning a years' long messaging competition with the White House.

Now, both parties are seeing more followers, they're sharing talking points on more platforms than ever - but also, adding to the plethora of false information.

Congressman Elijah Cummings and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi were both bested by a fake account for ousted National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Tuesday.

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