Obama speaks to the world via Facebook.
An interview with the President of the United States was streamed live on social media; users submitted questions through the website.
247 – US President Barack Obama participated in a press conference this Wednesday with a relatively large audience: the entire world. The questions were asked personally by Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, but submitted through the social network by users from anywhere. The event took place during Obama's visit to the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California, and was broadcast live on Facebook Live and the White House website.
Before entering the room where the interview was broadcast, Obama was introduced by a Facebook employee as one of the most popular people on the network, currently with over 19 million fans on his page. “That’s why we believe he’s at home. Welcome home, Mr. President,” the employee introduced him. Obama was received with great enthusiasm from the audience and nervousness from Mark Zuckerberg. But he tried to lighten the mood: “My name is Barack Obama and I’m the guy who made Mark Zuckerberg wear a suit and tie,” referring to the meeting they had with other technology companies in February of this year.
According to White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer, the goal of using Facebook to broadcast the event and interact with people is to reach an audience that may not seek information through traditional media outlets such as newspapers and television. The questions chosen by the Facebook team to be asked to the president were authored by American citizens. When asked in person, company employees directed their questions to Obama, previously submitted by Mark Zuckerberg.
Obama is increasingly showing signs of being quite engaged with technology. This year, he held a meeting with the giants of the sector, including Google, Facebook, and Yahoo, in Silicon Valley. On Wednesday, he left Zuckerberg's company headquarters with a gift in hand, which he can use to demonstrate his love for the online public: a sweatshirt with the "Facebook" logo printed on it. The chat – both physical and virtual – lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes and addressed topics that mainly involved the country's economy and the public health plan he created. The president was applauded several times.