The Tweeting of the Presidency

Who would have thought 20 years ago that a president would not only be using the Internet, but using it to directly communicate with individual citizens? President Obama is not only the first president to use a smartphone as president, he is the first to personally "tweet" messages to his followers on Twitter. Sure, the White House already had a presence on Twitter as well as Facebook; however, Obama is the first sitting president to pen tweets himself.

According to the New York Times: "Over the weekend, President Obama did something his Internet fans have long dreamed of: He sent a Father’s Day message in his own words via the @BarackObama Twitter account. The 122-character tweet was also posted to the Barack Obama page on Facebook. 'Being a father is sometimes my hardest but always my most rewarding job,' the President said. 'Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. –BO' Going forward, any messages signed '-BO' will be written by the President himself, rather than a staffer, according to an announcement posted Friday at BarackObama.com, the official Web site of the President’s re-election campaign."

The Obama campaign of 2008 really was the first 21st Century campaign in terms of they utilized social media. Clearly 2012 will raise the bar higher. And as we go forward, future presidents and candidates will be expected to utilize social media and advanced communications techniques to get their message out and connect with the American voter and citizen.