Users Flock to Twitter Town Hall
During the broadcast, users were asked to tweet the President their most pressing questions, limiting the range of discussion to focus on the economy and jobs.
According to TwitSprout, more than 70,000 tweets were sent. Barack Obama gets bragging rights as, “the first president to live tweet,” – a somewhat dubious achievement compared to some other presidential milestones.
However, the event was certainly an interesting piece of social media history.
The town hall style broadcast was the latest social media infused meeting from the President. In April, Obama sat down with Mark Zuckerberg for a “Facebook Town Hall” meeting. The event was popular, but met with mixed reviews. Some said the questions asked were too bland and calculated, the President’s answers too long.
This time around, Twitter kept the pace a bit faster, and questions down to 140 characters.
So what did the President’s tweet when he first went over to the computer? “In order to reduce the deficit, what costs would you cut and what investments would you keep?”
Shortly afterwards, Obama sat down to respond to various tweets.
The most re-tweeted question asked?
“Would you consider legalizing marijuana to increase revenue and save tax dollars by freeing up crowded prisons, court rooms.”
The President didn’t bite – he left it alone and stuck to safer questions. From a political standpoint, his reasoning was sound to avoid the sensitive issue.
Overall, the event was a success, albeit a PR gimmick to captivate tech heads and the younger generation.
So what’s next, a Linkedin Town Hall Meeting?