President Obama Joins Facebook To Keep In Touch With All His Presidential Friends

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Getty Image / Andrew Burton

U.S. President Barack Obama is now on Facebook. It’s taken him a little bit longer to get there than your aunt and her love for “questionable” Minions e-cards, but the official presence of POTUS is now a part of the social media Goliath.

The first post on Obama’s Facebook page? A welcome video (sensible!) with the President strolling outside the White House and talking about climate change. An accompanying slice of text informs Facebook users that this page is “a place where you can hear directly from me, and share your own thoughts and stories.” There’s also the promise that fun stuff will be included too which is nice because “fun stuff” is pretty popular these days.

Here’s the official text introduction that was buddied up with the video:

Hello, Facebook! I finally got my very own page. I hope you’ll think of this as a place where we can have real conversations about the most important issues facing our country – a place where you can hear directly from me, and share your own thoughts and stories. (You can expect some just-for-fun stuff, too.)

I hope you’ll join me in speaking out on climate change and educating your friends about why this issue is so important. At a time when nearly three in four adults online use Facebook, this feels like a great place to do it. Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this message on to folks you think need to see it.

The page also has Barack Obama’s assorted milestones like being sworn in as President and his marriage to First Lady Michelle Obama on display. Y’know, just so you can compare notes on how your Facebook page stacks up in the major life event standings.

According to the New York Times, Obama’s page was liked 45,000 times in the first hour of its existence. That number’s ballooned to over 235,000 likes as of 4:30 D.C. time with further growth an absolute lock. After all, his Twitter account has 5 million followers to its name.

We’re intrigued to see what Obama’s Facebook page has in store for the future. Based on our friends’ dads that have set up a Facebook page before they retire from their current job, there’s like a 78% chance Obama could be putting up shirtless Van Halen soundtracked bicep curl videos at any moment.

(Via The New York Times)

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