The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama was not only historical because he was first African American to be elected president, but Obama was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy.
Obama has continued to use social media and new technology platforms to communicate with the American people. Earlier Monday, the White House launched its official Snapchat account to provide a "behind-the-scenes glimpse of the administration." The first post published on the video messaging app featured a bowl of apples set in the Oval Office.
It's a strategy that White House Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldman calls "meeting people where they are." And after last night's big win at the Golden Globe awards, where they are seems to be is on Amazon.
"For the first time, this year SOTU will be available to stream on-demand on Amazon Video," Goldman wrote on the White House blog.
Beginning Wednesday, the speech, along with his previous seven State of the Union addresses, will be made available on Amazon Video and accessible across all devices.
For Obama's last State of the Union, the White House Office of Digital Strategy is pushing the president's address on as many platforms as possible. Besides airing live various television networks, the White House will provide livestreams on its official YouTube channel — as it has done since 2008 — and on whitehouse.gov.
"And as in past years, you’ll be able to watch video excerpts released in real-time on Facebook and Twitter. From live GIFs on Tumblr to 6-second videos on Vine and photos on Instagram, we’ll build on previous efforts to connect with users across a range of social media sites and make the experience of the speech appropriate to each platform," Goldman wrote.
U.S. & World
The White House first broadcasted the president's annual addresses on the internet during George W. Bush's adminstration in 2002, and began live streaming an "enhanced" version of the speech in 2011, during Obama's first term, Goldman wrote in the blog.
The White House has said that Obama will talk about the economy, climate change, healthcare reform and foreign policy in the final speech of his two terms as president, NBC News reported.
