President Obama has proven to be a fairly tech savvy guy during his four years in office. He’s taken to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more. One place I never expected to see the President was on Reddit. You can imagine my surprise today when an AMA featuring the President took the top page on Reddit.
Before you think that this is some kind of joke, President Obama’s official Twitter feed confirms the AMA.
Hey, everyone: I’ll be taking your questions online today. Ask yours here: http://t.co/pcwZHo3O -bo
The tweet was signed with “bo” which means it’s straight from the man himself. It will be interesting to see if he will be personally answering questions on Reddit as well.
When Obama starts answering questions on Reddit, he’ll have a lot to go through. The thread has already reached over 4,300 comments in 25 minutes. There will surely be more throughout the day. The initial surge was so strong that we had trouble even accessing the thread.
A quick preview of the questions include stuff that Redditors would be interested in. One of the top questions is how Obama plans to defend Internet freedom if he’s elected to a second term. The GOP already made their stance clear last night, so it will be interesting to see how and if he responds. Another major topic involves the student loan debt problem that many young Redditors are also facing.
We’ll continue to monitor the AMA throughout the day to see if anything interesting happens. Many politicians have taken to the AMA stage before, but this is the first time that a major political player – the President – has taken to Reddit. It’s looking to already break all kinds of records.
UPDATE: Here’s the proof that he’s answering questions on Reddit, or so says the Tweet.
President Obama is answering your questions in a #Reddit AMA, starting right now: http://t.co/f00rEdkn, http://t.co/Q5gWHTTM
UPDATE:
Obama has answered a few questions so far. The most interesting response has been his take on Internet freedom:
Internet freedom is something I know you all care passionately about; I do too. We will fight hard to make sure that the internet remains the open forum for everybody – from those who are expressing an idea to those to want to start a business. And although there will be occasional disagreements on the details of various legislative proposals, I won’t stray from that principle – and it will be reflected in the platform.
He also commented on the future of NASA and its dwindling budget:
Making sure we stay at the forefront of space exploration is a big priority for my administration. The passing of Neil Armstrong this week is a reminder of the inspiration and wonder that our space program has provided in the past; the curiosity probe on mars is a reminder of what remains to be discovered. The key is to make sure that we invest in cutting edge research that can take us to the next level – so even as we continue work with the international space station, we are focused on a potential mission to a asteroid as a prelude to a manned Mars flight.
He also revealed that Michael Jordan is his favorite basketball player.
UPDATE:
That’s a wrap. Obama finished his first AMA and only answered 10 questions. Granted, he left very lengthy responses for the questions that he did answer. He confirmed that the beer brewed at the White House will soon be available for all. He also referenced his meme in the last response:
By the way, if you want to know what I think about this whole reddit experience – NOT BAD!
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