Welcome to Twitter, @paulryanvp

ByABC News
August 11, 2012, 8:34 AM

— -- If Republicans get their way, he'll be the next vice president of the United States. Right now, he's just @PaulRyanVP.

Hours before Mitt Romney formally appeared with Republican Representative Paul Ryan to anoint him his running mate, the former Massachusetts governor's campaign unveiled a new Twitter handle for the telegenic, thoughtful congressman from Wisconsin: https://twitter.com/PaulRyanVP.

(Ryan already had an account, https://twitter.com/RepPaulRyan). Shortly after 8 am, the account had yet to break its silence, but already had nearly 5,000 followers.)

Romney himself rolled out the account, tweeting:  "I am proud to announce ?@PaulRyanVP as my VP. Stand with us today. ?http://mi.tt/Romney-Ryan ?#RomneyRyan2012."

What does Twitter think of Ryan? An automated feature invited a reporter who "followed" Ryan on the hugely popular microblogging site to also follow the Brookings Institution think tank and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.