President Obama has been popping up in live events and town halls on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and now in a Google Plus hangout, chatting with 5 lucky (and pre-selected) Americans in a live video stream. Over 130,000 total questions were submitted, and we’re waiting for the final audience numbers from Google+.
Just as FDR triumphed on radio and JFK on TV, Barack Obama shines in social media circles with an upbeat, easy-going style. In the hangout, questions ranged from the formal to the slightly bizarre (one woman asked him to dance.) The most memorable moment: a woman pressed him on unemployment in the technology sector, explaining her husband is an engineer out of work. “Send me your husband’s resume,” he said, reminding her at the end of the event to follow through on it.
While some journalists may cringe at the questions, Obama was in his element, navigating the conversations with ease (no, he did not dance.) And that may explain why he does so many social events. Just as TV changed campaigns and candidates, social media is doing it all over again.
For the last question, a woman asked Obama if she could introduce him to her kids over the hangout. It was the kind of unscripted social media moment that warms the hearts of campaign managers everywhere. And you won’t get that in a presidential press conference.