Source: AdamPrzezdziek/flickr
As U.S. President Barack Obama prepared to deliver his last State of the Union address on Tuesday, the White House announced that it has launched an account on Snapchat, warranting a look at his presidency’s relationship with technology — something many would categorize as rocky.
The White House’s Snapchat account joins a myriad of other social media accounts, including Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and Twitter. Many see Obama as the first president of the social media age — he is the first Commander in Chief to employ social networks to consistently reach out to voters. Indeed, after the State of the Union, the White House intends to hold a day-long marathon of discussions involving senior White House officials, members of the Cabinet and members of Congress to engage with citizens on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.
(It’s worth nothing that though the White House has debuted its Snapchat account, replete with “disappearing” photos and video clips of the preparation for the speech, the Associated Press reports there is an arrangement with Snapchat to ensure Obama’s posts won’t truly disappear from the historical record, in line with the Presidential Records Act.)
President Obama’s prolific use of social media to reach voters dates back to his first presidential campaign. The European Business Review issued a report back in 2010 titled Obama and the power of social media and technology — before the White House was even operating many of the social accounts it is today — and noted:
A major success factor for Obama’s victory was how Obama’s campaign used social media and technology as an integral part of its strategy, to raise money, and, more importantly, to develop a groundswell of empowered volunteers who felt they could make a difference.
Nevertheless, other elements of technology have not fared so well during Obama’s tenure. The launch of Healthcare.gov, the President’s champion legislation for healthcare for every American, was, in a word, a catastrophe. The bug-plagued digital launch of the project continues to have problems years later.
On a different note entirely, the Edward Snowden leaks regarding the U.S. government’s use of cyber spy tactics and data surveillance will forever be associated with Obama’s presidency, as will a growing number of virulent cyber attacks on both government and the private sector.
Yes, the addition of a Snapchat account further establishes Obama as the first social media president — but it will be as one with mixed digital legacy. But as the White House writes, “100 million daily active Snapchat users, and over 60 percent of American smartphone users between the ages of 13 and 34 use the platform.” A few presidential hopefuls currently also have Snapchat accounts. Whoever moves into the Oval Office next will have several digital social channels to maintain.
