There are very few things about the Obama presidency that are universally accepted and won’t start a family argument at Thanksgiving – but one of them is the administration’s impressive social media strategy. I mean, the President (…’s social media staff) is on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr. They’ve conducted a reddit AMA. I don’t know why, but for a brief time Obama was on Foursquare. Social media helped President Obama get elected, then it helped him get reelected – and during his administration his social media team has used all available outlets to get his message across. You may or may not like that message, but the team is pumping it out one tweet at a time.
Now, the White House is giving Obama supporters ammo in their Facebook flamewars.
“Whether it’s with an infographic or a White Board video, we’re always looking for new ways to highlight the work President Obama is doing on behalf of the American people in a way that’s interesting and easy to understand,” says White House Deputy Director of Digital Strategy Nathaniel Lubin. “Earlier today, we released our latest feature in that effort: White House Sharables. Head over and take a look some of our favorite content in one easy-to-navigate page. You can sort by the issues important to you, or the type of content you’d like to see.”
The White House Shareables page is a resource where social media users can find infographics, videos, and presentations that outline programs and ideas and the President supports. Each piece of Obama-supporting media can be shared via Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest with a click of a button.
You’ll see infographics on topics like “The Importance of Higher Education” and “Ways Obamacare Helps You.” And you’ll see shareable videos on “Immigration Reform & Our Economy” and Obama’s plan to tackle student loans.
You can sort all of the media by type and by issue.
For an administration that’s been criticized for some failures to accurately and convincingly explain the President’s policies to the American people (read: The Affordable Care Act), this is one minor move to enlist the public to help spread the word. Still, it’s unlikely that you’ll see a heavily spike in traffic to the White House’s Shareables page – but it is a significant move to use social media to get the message across.
Images via Whitehouse.gov