It occurred to me the other day, being the big media history buff that I am, that to be President in the age of social media and the Internet is quite a different cup of tea. And 
we all know that President Barack Obama has been called “The Facebook President” not only because of his incredibly successful campaign in 2008 (and his millions of Facebook fans), but because he cherry-picked a Facebook employee to run his social media efforts during that campaign. Marketers have dissected case studies concerning Barack 2.0 and applied it to their online brand awareness and fund raising efforts, but I would like to go deeper than that for a moment. There is a distinct drawback, or two, or three…or more…to being President in the age of social media.
Consider the fact that the President in this day and age has to be always on, always listening, always reacting, always looking impeccable, always ready with the right talking point, always abreast of what information is flowing thanks to the eternal information and public opinion fountain which is the Internet and the social sphere. Faster than any other information medium known to man, the Internet has a real impact on the highest office. Seem like no big deal? Consider this:
President Roosevelt, in the late 20s and early 30s could be characterized as the radio President. He took hold of a medium with his Fireside Chats and communicated with the American people in a brand new and fairly effective way. Because of the relatively slow nature in which information flowed, there may have been foreign affairs that happened and weeks later his aides may have advised him of it. Then, he had time, sometimes months to react, or not react because the threat of that information getting to the public faster than he did was nearly non-existence.
The first television President, as media history enthusiasts would agree, had to be John F. Kennedy. Still the speed and proliferation of information was not truly a factor, but suddenly visual impact with video was now an issue. It’s safe to say that until then, it really didn’t matter what a President looked like. You could have a face for radio and no one cared. Some historians argue that President Roosevelt, as politically incorrect as this would be considered these days, would not have been elected if people had seen him rolling around in his wheelchair on national television day in and day out. These things just didn’t matter back then, because we couldn’t see them. Now, suddenly, the American public cared. Enter Camelot. Image meant everything.
Ask President Ford if image mattered after he tripped down those steps. Arguably, President Jimmy Carter wasn’t a made-for-TV president either.
President Reagan was likely the first to use television to his advantage to shape his foreign and domestic influence. It did not hurt that he was a tall-dark-and handsome Hollywood star of old. Still, I believe his demand to Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall” was taped. It definitely wasn’t “uStreamed” or captured on any smartphone and posted to the Internet. And although we watched the Challenger Speech live, Americans were much more forgiving and understanding that the President didn’t appear immediately with his speech thereafter the disaster. Today, it’s a whole different ballgame. We want to see a reaction from the top office immediately.
The first President truly impacted by cable television was “Daddy Bush,” AKA, 41, George Herbert Walker Bush. I was in college at TCU, standing in the lobby looking in on the R.A.’s television in the dormitory office at the scud missiles and patriot missles chasing each other in Iraq circa Desert Storm. It was the first war overseas, piped in to the U.S. live via CNN and suddenly, we not only saw the pictures, but we had an opinion about it. President Bush now had to react to those pictures, consider public opinion about those pictures, react faster than any President before him to issues and happenings happening internationally because suddenly the visuals made foreign affairs real to us.
If a President had an extra marital affair before the 50s & 60s, it’s likely the public didn’t hear about it until well after he’d passed on. Even more accurately, it was probably confined to rumor and innuendo. Not so for President Clinton, also known as the first President of the TV age because he was likely the first in office that actually grew up with a TV set in his living room. Cable news was not his friend,and there appeared some other tidbits on the Internet about the Black Dog and that blue dress, cigars and such, but his ability to use live, national television to his advantage (he’s the only President that can have negative news looming, appear on television and then have his approval ratings jump immediately following) defined his presidency and his legacy.
“Dubya,” #43, was likely the first to seriously consider the impact of the Internet on his Presidency. Pictures of the planes flying into the World Trade Centers aired before he could react, and they were replayed on the Internet not simply from reputable news organizations, but also by conspiracy theorists. To this day, You Tube has its healthy share of videos that claim that it wasn’t really a plane that slammed into the Pentagon. President Bush also had to contend with the speed of the Internet during the Florida debacle and “pregnant chads” which could have ushered him out of office. News gathering had changed. Reporters had laptop technology in the Iraq dessert and were “embedded” with troops. Pictures were coming home faster than ever. Remember how quickly that “Mission Accomplished” banner flashed on our screens and repeated over and over again on Internet video channels and blogs? President Bush’s administration was in the midst of a new age, but never caught hold or truly adapted.
Which brings us back to President Obama. I don’t know your politics, and it nearly doesn’t matter. But this President taught us how to tweet and showed us how “the little guy” can be heard in the social sphere if s/he is echoed. He showed us that a couple dollars donated online can have impact if millions donate even in small increments. He showed us how to keep cool even when the negative rumors echoed across the blogosphere.
Today’s revolutions may have been televised. But they had more impact because they were tweeted, and “Facebooked”… from one country to another. We’ve raised money for earthquake victims in Haiti, tsunami victims in Japan and beyond by mobile fundraising.
Still, what a feat it must be to be the leader of the free world when information comes, goes and develops with the stroke of a key or the click of a mouse. You have to look good, never let them see you sweat, listen, react, don’t react, filter out what’s not important and address what is…all at the speed of the Internet. They say that President Obama is now dying his hair black. If he is, I completely understand why!
And to think, The Office will only become even more demanding with the continued improvements in technologies.
Ever thought about what it’d be like to lead the country in this new age of information? Would love to hear your thoughts.
LMH
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