Image credit: Joanna Stern / ABC News

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the former presidential candidate, dropped by SXSW 2012 this evening to discuss all things social media and politics.

At an intimate event held at CNN's Grill in downtown Austin, Perry answered questions about his run as a Republican candidate. But being that this is a technology and interactive show, he kicked off the interview with a bit about his use of Twitter.

"In 2009, when we were discussing our campaign, we had heard there was this new thing they are going to be doing called Twitter. We picked up on it, and I thought it was highly successful," he said.

Perry himself tweets from his account and was the only candidate to do so.

"Thank you for reminding me when I mispell something," he told his followers.

Perry noted that he liked to use the service to "bypass the mainstream media" and the fact that "everyone becomes a reporter."

Perry continued to speak candidly on the subject of his loss and the current candidates.

"We still have a lot of time to go," Perry said when asked who he thought would be the Republican nominee.

He did, however, say that Newt Gingrich is still in the fight. Perry endorsed Gingrich when he ended his campaign in January.

Perry also addressed Texas as a hub for technology. Earlier in the day, he announced that Apple would be creating a $304 million campus in Austin that would make available more than 3,600 jobs.

Despite having his arm in a sling because of recent surgery on his right clavicle, Perry was upbeat and humorous. He closed the event by saying that if he were to run in 2016 he would "work on some debate skills and always remember the third thing."