Top News

Samsung Boosts Entertainment Options with Blockbuster Deal

T-Mobile Releases Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G

U.K. Serves Legal Papers on Facebook, Spurs Privacy Concerns

For Gen Y, Smartphones Are Necessities

Hackers Eyeing U.S. Power Grid, NSA Warns

More News >

Immediately after the State of the Union, the White House is inviting citizens to submit questions to Obama. He will answer the most popular questions in the Google+ hangout, which allows up to ten users to take part in a video conference. Some of the people invited to the hangout will be ordinary citizens who proposed questions.

The event will stream live on YouTube at 5:30 PM EST on January 30.

President Obama's decision to use Google+ to communicate with citizens demonstrates embrace of social media and enhances his reputation as a tech-savvy commander-in-chief.

Obama held a Twitter town hall last July 2011 that generated over 170,000 questions. The event gave insight into voter concerns, as many of the tweets pertained to jobs. He also began tweeting personally, taking his official handle back from staffers.

The White House used Twitter to encourage the passing of the jobs bill. Obama is the first president to urge voters to contact their Congressional representatives via social networking, as his "Tweet for Jobs" tool let people chose pre-written tweets to send their representatives urging them to support the bill.

Most recently, Obama joined Instagram the night of the Iowa Caucus, indicating that he will continue to explore new social media venues as he begins to campaign for re-election. Instagram instantly shares photos online, and the president team expects to use this tool to build a scrapbook of shots from the campaign trail.

The Republican candidates in the 2012 presidential election are exploring social media as a campaign tool as well, highlighting its growing role to reach and galvanize audiences. This past fall, Mitt Romney gained nearly 100,000 supporters on his campaign's MyMitt social network.

As all the candidates get up to speed on new digital tools, Obama remains one of the most wired campaigners, and competitors will have to significantly expand their social media efforts to match the Obama campaign's established Internet reach.

This Google+ hangout serves as a reminder that Obama's campaign knows its way around the Web, and recognizes the Internet's potential to connect and inform citizens, a function that will likely prove useful in an election year.