Since his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama has successfully navigated the internet, turning social media into a central tool in his campaign strategy. His army of followers on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter energized his supporters, mobilizing the youth to get out the vote. He utilized YouTube by creating a personalized channel, making his campaign speeches publicly available to all audiences. His Twitter page boasts 15,811,916 followers and counting. He even jumped on the latest trend, Pinterest, and created a page featuring images of his family, the campaign trail, and even Obama-inspired recipes. His campaign has recognized the growing importance of social media in political campaigns and engaged with voters across a multitude of networks.
Today, living up to his title as social media king, Barack Obama participated in a chat on Twitter, responding directly to users asking about his "To-Do" list for Congress. The official twitter account of the White House asked:
Have a question about the #CongressToDoList & the President's plan to bring jobs back to the US? Ask now with #WHChat twitter.com/whitehouse/sta…— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012
Tweeting from the White House twitter account, Barack Obama answered seven questions, initialing each response with "-bo". Here are some of the highlights:
this is barack - let's get this started! -bo— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012
Photo of POTUS answering questions on twitter now in Iowa #whchat twitter.com/petesouza/stat…— petesouza (@petesouza) May 24, 2012
Question: "What are we doing to curb, better yet avoid, dependency on oil? #WHChat"
.@asturtz all of the above energy strategy; increase dom. oil & gas. increase energy efficiency. 2x clean energy. 2x car fuel eff. -bo— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012
Question: "#WHChat What about mortgage re-finance options for homeowners trapped by underwater home prices?"
.@Augustmuser I refuse to let mkt hit bottom.Refi could save folks $3k each mo. Its on #CongressToDoList. Get it done - bo— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012
Question: "What is the plan to make both sides see that a cooperative compromise is the best way forward on ALL of these to-dos? #WHChat"
.@mycroft16 I've always said best ideas don't come out of DC. Citizens need to keep pushingbest ideas & put country ahead of politics. -bo— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012
Signing out, he tweeted:
off to des moines.thx for questions - keep em coming.remember we're not D's or R's but americans first! -bo— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012
With 165 days left until the general election, Barack Obama is utilizing all channels to connect with voters, but will it work again? What do you think? Is social media a good medium for engagement?
