By Hayley Gregory
President Obama recently launched his personal Facebook page, which adds to his participation on social media, including a previously launched Twitter account, a Reddit AMA and a Buzzfeed video to promote his healthcare initiative. His involvement in social media sets a standard for future presidents and politicians and also indicates a future of deepening engagement with social media as a communications tool for politicians.
His Facebook page is similar to that of many celebrities, (an amalgamation of personal and protected), conveying a managed persona in an accessible way. The New York Times reports that the page is run by twenty White House staffers, which is to be expected. The persona of those in office is always controlled and presented with precision, but doing so through social media blends this guarded presentation with the accessibility and personal touch of the new forum for the “everyman”
Obama’s staff has utilized Facebook’s milestones to tell the President’s story, from birth and marriage, to both inaugurations. The page launched with a video of the President touring his “backyard”, a National Park, with scripted small talk segueing into a conversation on climate change. Fans are able to comment on photos and milestones, though these are most likely approved by the staff before going live on the page.
Social media offers a unique opportunity for politicians to present themselves to the public in a controlled, but accessible way. It also offers the general public a means for a two-way conversation with some of the least accessible people in the world, including the President of the United States. Though his accounts are managed through a team of experts, audience messaging can be relayed and measured and as always, the louder voices will likely be heard.
Social tools open a two-way conversation to the public that print, television and other forms of media cannot. It also operates in real-time, so news, updates, mistakes and reactions of all kinds can happen in-the-moment, as seen through the social blunders of other campaigning politicians. This offers the opportunity and necessity for a different and more direct type of communication on the part of those in charge.
All these possibilities affect overall change in communications that will only further develop with the passage of time. With the current President setting the standard by using social tools, these small changes have the potential to impact larger changes across all facets of society. Obama moving from a TV screen to Facebook’s “People You May Know” is truly the beginning of a larger movement.
– Hayley Gregory is an Account Coordinator at Zócalo Group.
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