NASHVILLE (AP) - Carrie Underwood has found her voice on Twitter.

The country music star and former "American Idol" champion admitted 3½ years ago she was afraid to join Twitter, but since deciding to take the leap in 2011 she's embraced the social media tool in ways that go beyond fan engagement. Recently she used Twitter to oppose the "Ag Gag" bill in Tennessee, reaching out directly to Gov. Bill Haslam with a boldly worded message saying if he signed it "he needs to expect me at his front door."

It was the first time she's taken a political stand so publicly, and it seemed to have an impact. Haslam contacted Underwood to discuss the issue and went on to veto the bill that opponents claimed would have stopped investigation into animal abuse on farms.

"He really just wanted to hear everybody's point of view, which I really respected," Underwood said in a recent interview. "So it's kind of neat that (tweet) led to that, which was real ly cool."

Dave Smith, spokesman for Tennessee's Republican governor, said Haslam spoke to people on both sides and that Underwood's was the only celebrity counsel he sought.

Underwood also recently declared "Hug a soldier day," and puts her support behind movements like the "End It" anti-slavery campaign and animals rights. She has 2 million followers.

"Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a thinker and I'm a planner and I would never weigh in on anything unless I know the full story on it," Underwood said. "So I do my research. I don't think I'm a bandwagon kind of person. People are always retweeting sort of weird stuff. I do my own research. I'm not a political person at all. I doubt anyone can tell you what party I mostly affiliate myself with. But that was just something that was in my backyard."

As you might expect, there was pushback. Rather than shrink from it, she responded with some grit.

"I realize it's not necessarily so scary," she said. "Most of the comments I get back on anything are positive. There's the occasional negative one, but I enjoy blocking that person."

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