The visit, part of a three-day West Coast trip to sell his deficit-reduction plan, is the first by a sitting president to the world's largest social media network.
Obama's trip to Facebook also signals his belief in the growing value of social media to spread his message, organize supporters and raise money as his reelection campaign kicks into gear.
"It would make our jobs a lot easier, if these were the days when a vast majority of the American audience tuned into Walter Cronkite at night and we could just talk to 'Uncle Walter' and get our message out there," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. "That's just not the case anymore."
The White House has leveraged an unprecedented array of traditional and new media, on a local and national level, to create greater accessibility to Obama and provide interaction with members of the administration.
The White House Press Office now not only produces a website, blog, YouTube channel, Flickr photo stream, and Facebook and Twitter profiles, but also a mix of original daily video programming, including live coverage of the president's appearances and news-like shows that highlight his accomplishments.
The administration launched an upgraded iPhone app and new Android app Tuesday complete with a feature that alerts users every time Obama is about to speak. The White House says more than 400,000 people have downloaded the app.
"What you're seeing on the Internet is transparency at its finest," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in an interview. "We are giving citizens across the country direct access to decision makers in the government."
And it's a good thing, something Obama should have been doing since day one in office. More stuff like this could have countered the Tea Party effect in 2010 if Obama had rolled up his sleeves and sold the health care reform plan more than he did. Democrats did suffer last year because Obama chose his fights a little too carefully, and didn't vigorously defend his policies as much as he could have.
It is much better however to see Obama coming out with all guns on the deficit plan. Here's the video of the town hall from ABC7 Chicago:
Obama was relaxed and I thought he really connected with the people there, and he made a lot of frank statements about the budget, education, and yes, once again he shredded the Ryan Unicorn Plan to bits.
More of this, please.
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