I did, for a little bit. And you know what, it wasn’t as weird as I thought it was going to be.
If you missed it you, can watch it here.
Now, I am not going to get into some kind of political analysis of how it went. If you want that you can visit NPR. I simply want to take a look at the fact that the President of the United States was on a social media site, and was talking with regular people through this new technology.
To me, it really brought two things to my attention. One, Google Hangouts is a pretty impressive technology (even though I am not a huge fan of Google+). Two, it reinforces the fact that social media is an important part of our culture.
It felt a lot like a round table chat, or a small town hall meeting. I think that it is important to remember that these new technologies are simply allowing us to be more connected, and connected in new ways. I don’t want face-to-face interactions to go away. I can’t stand looking at my computer all day. I connect with people much better in person.
But the truth is, if you haven’t already figured it out, social media is here to stay. I can walk into a room of people I have never met and recognize a handful of them from Twitter. I can see a person I haven’t spoken to in a month and know that his dog got sick last week. I can find out what is going on in a business before I decide to buy from them.
It’s an extension of our current interactions, and it is an important one. Whatever side of the aisle you are on, you have to agree that the President sees the value of that. It’s one of the ways he became president in the first place, and I expect to see a lot more of it as we approach the election this year.
