Now that Obama has won, media scrutiny of the president elect has shifted from his campaign to what the future holds for him and his family. Beyond the political stuff — speculating who will fill cabinet positions and wondering how he can possibly keep his sweeping promises — a lot of pieces are showing up contemplating lifestyle changes the Obama family faces. Not a surprise given the absolute frenzy of adoration the Big O and Michele and their kids have generated.
In the past few days alone, a number of pieces in the New York Times have scrutinized everything from where the kids might attend school to how much smaller, tighter, and more impenetrable Obama’s security bubble has become. His Chicago home is now a fortress, barricaded three blocks out. He and his wife take thirty Secret Service agents to dinner with them.
And then there’s the tech side of the new President’s life, a side that affects both the personal and the political. Twittering, texting, and YouTubing were all instrumental in the making of the President 2.0. Via these platforms record-breaking funds were raised, the message of hope went viral and, on the private side, Obama could stay in touch with his closest friends easily while on the road for two years.
Looks like most of that is about to change. As reported by Jeff Zeleny odds are very high that Obama is soon going to have to part ways with his Blackberry, a device of which he is more than a little fond. Why? Zeleny writes:
In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful.
On the other hand, maybe Obama’s Twitter account — reportedly down to a trickle of tweets since the election — might come back to life, provided the messages are innocuous and posted by an aide. And all is not totally eLost: Marshall Kirkpatrick reports that the “fireside chat” — long a presidential communication staple beamed out over the radio waves — will be videotaped and aired on YouTube. Could be interesting to watch the video comments these regular postings inspire.
Meanwhile, poor Obama — could you imagine giving up texting and emailing after being so wired for so long?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Lacy Kemp // Nov 17, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I’m thinking Obama and his team will find a way to make this work. Maybe not an official Blackberry but there will be something that will make this transition easier. I think it’s crucial he continue to use Social Media in some capacity- and more than YouTube. I’d be fine with an aide Twittering. At least it’d be something.
2 spike // Nov 17, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Nice graphic!
3 Julie Gomoll // Nov 17, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Lacy: It does seem like there should be a compromise. Like Blackberry email allowed for family and a couple close friends, and read-only stuff allowed in general. Hell, it’s how he kept so current on news! And I agree, an aide twittering is fine (pretty sure it’s been that all along).
Spike: thanks!
4 Austin Coworking - Technology in the White House - LaunchPad Coworking Blog // Dec 9, 2008 at 3:32 pm
[...] few days ago, I posted about how it’s likely Obama will have to give up his Blackberry. This came to my attention in a New York Times article. Well, the Times did a related post looking [...]
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