Like Your Dad, Barack Obama's Still Getting the Hang of this Whole Facebook Thing
Say hello to @potus with a tour of the White House backyard.
Our dad-joke spitting president has finally set up his own Facebook page, where he’s gonna do dad stuff like give you a long-winded tour of his house: His first post is a video tour of the White House backyard, which comes with a message about the environment and conservation.
“Hey everybody, so…this has been my backyard for the last seven years…uhhh….it also happens to be a National Park, too.” And that’s how it opens. Obama’s gonna fit in just fine with the dads on Facebook, talking to no one specifically but still talking. “There’s a hawk that some kids named Lincoln…” It goes on like that.
It’s unclear exactly to whom Obama is catering with the new Facebook page. Facebook is kind of like the calmer, older relative (dad?) to Twitter. There aren’t typically the same off-the-cuff #HotTakes, as posts are more manicured and can even be edited.
Obama, of course, already had an official Facebook page — @barackobama — on which Organizing for Action shared updates. The new page will function more like his personal Twitter — also @POTUS — on which he shares his actual thoughts. For instance, he wasn’t down with The New York Times’s Green Pea Guacamole recipe.
The choice of Obama's cover image didn't miss the opportunity to do another thing Dads love: Being on boats, showing off boats, and wearing sunglasses on a boat.
Facebook is, however, the place for paragraphs-long political diatribes during election season. Maybe Obama is making sure his lame-duck voice is heard amid all of Donald Trump’s xenophobic racism, Ben Carson’s rapping, Bernie Sanders’s cloud of weed smoke, and everything from Hillary Clinton.
At this point in his term, Obama’s most powerful tool is his voice and clout. Regardless of your personal opinion of his presidency, he’s been America’s leader for almost as long as you legally can be. The @potus Facebook page is a soothing, articulate voice that can serve as the calm before the storm. Stroll around the backyard with Barry. That’s all he’s asking for. Oh, and climate change awareness.
