Attending the first Twitter Town Hall at the White House last week was quite an experience! For the first time, a President — Barack Obama — answered questions from digital citizens across America on the microblog network. The Townhall was the third social network appearance by the President, the first ones hosted on YouTube and Facebook. The new format with Twitter was a massive public event, inspiring 40,000 questions, and of course, some criticism.
Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey interviewed the President using questions he hadn’t seen before, some of which came in live. Less than 20 questions were answered, a primary source of criticism. Two of these questions came from well known sources, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristoff. Questions were qualified by popularity via algorithm, and then hand-picked by eight curators.
To not include a Republican question would have been partisan, and in the spirit of the medium and prior analysis, it is likely Boehner’s tweet was significantly retweeted by the GOP’s user base. What better way to handle issues of partisanship than to answer Boehner’s question? This seems like a smart move.
Similarly, Kristoff’s question was highly retweeted. However, this curator decision seemed more questionable. In that sense, curation models should be reviewed if there is another Twitter Town Hall. Further, none of us in actual attendance got to ask questions, unless of course our Tweets successfully navigated the same curation process.
As to the number of questions that were aired, this show demonstrated why mass media forms are still needed. Given the length of time Obama takes to respond to questions, it is impossible to answer more. Simply put, one man cannot scale on a national level.
Perhaps, Twitterati and critics feel like every question deserves a customer response from the White House. However, this is currently impossible. The 2008 Obama election team had 200 online representatives working for them. The White House has a handful. Maybe Twitterati can ping the GOP to fund a Twitter customer response department for the White House. Will Speaker Boehner be open to such initiatives in the face of the debt ceiling debate?
An Authentic President?
Another criticism of the event was the lack of authenticity the President demonstrated. Pundits slammed Obama for providing mostly stock position answers that one can find on the White House site.
Yet, sitting across from the President provided a view of his face. Obama was present, authentic and real, and frankly, his mannerisms were captivating. Most live attendees were busy using their phones and computers, but many paused to simply watch and listen to Obama for a few questions. He clearly looked directly in people’s eyes, and smiled slightly, acknowledging their presence.
There were several questions he laughed at, and one from a person called “Shnaps” that he struggled a little to hold his composure on. You can see the President become visibly shaken when Welfare programs were challenged by a Twitter user. The President also had a little fun at Speaker Boehner’s expense, who had a computer generated typo in a tweeted question.
In all, if it was authenticity people were looking for and not political gloss, then maybe it’s time to look at the expectation. To expect the current top elected official in the United States to appear rough, unpolished, and casual in the midst of the worst budget crisis in the country’s history, and the most severe economic downturn in 80 years is sophomoric at best. Perhaps Twitter authenticity is best left to the “Shnaps” of the world, and the President is exactly as he should be given his job.
Further, Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush demonstrated an authenticity that many Americans felt hurt the Office of the Presidency. He was an authentic a-hole who refuted questioning about his policies with indignant public anger, and bullied his worst outspoken critics with questionable uses of political power. Conversely, Obama answers criticism.
Additional Observations
Obama posted the first live Presidential tweet in history, a very cool moment. Watching him type, he reviewed the tweet several times. It was clear that he wasn’t the type of fellow that haphazardly shoots off emails and tweets.
Afterwards, the President shook hands with those of us in the front row. He has very soft hands.
The bathrooms in the White House are pretty swanky. Just saying.
All in all, the atmosphere was electric. From the moment attendees lined up outside the White House and waited in the main hall listening to the piano, to the excitement of the actual question and answer session and the applause that closed the event, attending the Twitter Town Hall in person was something special.
As a long-term Washington resident, it has been a dream to visit the White House and meet a sitting U.S. President. To have that dream come true was simply amazing, a moment to remember and tell family about.
What did you think of the Twitter Town Hall?