Social media – Obama likes it … when he controls it

Social media – Obama likes it … when he controls it

In the wake of the 2008, election a column at the LA Times declared Obama, the first social media president:

Some things we know: Obama is no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. And he’s no Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook). Rather than being given to deranged leaps …

… of techno-insight, Obama’s tech talent is finding novel uses for available tools.

And he’s already slapping a custom saddle on three of new media’s biggest workhorses. How about social networks as a means of encouraging civic engagement, online video as a means of informing the citizenry and a Google search-minded approach to the sharing of government documents?

Obama’s best-known tech bona fide is the social network his campaign designed. My.barackobama.com (or MyBo, as its users call it) took social networking — until then, little more than an amusing way to stay in touch with far-flung friends or chat with colleagues — and developed it into a powerful tool for fundraising, community building and voter turnout.

My how things have changed. As Ed Driscoll quotes Chuck Todd, as transcribed by NewsBusters (h/t Instapundit):

CHUCK TODD: What I wonder how many people realized at the end [of Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner] when he did his, you know, there’s always this part at the end where they get serious for a minute. And it’s usually the part where presidents say, “You know, I think the press has a good job to do and I understand what they have to do.” He didn’t say that. He wasn’t very complimentary of the press. You know, we all can do better.

It did seem, I thought his pot shots joke wise and then the serious stuff about the internet, the rise of the internet media and social media and all that stuff — he hates it. Okay? He hates this part of the media. He really thinks that the sort of the buzzification — this isn’t just about Buzzfeed or Politico and all this stuff – he thinks that sort of coverage of political media has hurt political discourse. He hates it. And I think he was trying to make that clear last night.

I could say, what a difference five years makes. But in 2008, Obama probably didn’t like the same aspects of the new media that he doesn’t like now. It’s just that then he was successful in getting elected despite the opposition. Now he fears for his legacy.

Of course he hopes to control that too. (h/t Instapundit):

The book from Paradigm Publishers also reports that the president has been meeting with scholars to plot out his legacy. The most recent was a January dinner of salad and pastry-wrapped beef. “Obama discussed history with his guests for two hours. He was particularly interested in their thoughts on how he could ensure a successful second term and what kind of legacy he could create,” reports Walsh of Obama’s meeting with seven scholars.

What would the President’s motto be? “That which I can control makes me stronger.” That seems about right.

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