Yesterday, Barack Obama tweeted an invite to the general public to ask him anything they wanted on the social media site Reddit.
Hey, everyone: I'll be taking your questions online today. Ask yours here: href="http://t.co/pcwZHo3O" title="http://OFA.BO/gBof44">OFA.BO/gBof44 -bo
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/240903767350968320" data-datetime="2012-08-29T20:08:28+00:00">August 29, 2012
A Reddit feed was set up href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obama_president_of_the_united_states/">here which has clocked up over 22,000 comments and questions.
In roughly 30 minutes, Obama waded through hundreds of questions, answering only 10 on a wide range of topics including balancing life and family, and protecting Internet freedom.
His unexpected online appearance caused a traffic surge that temporarily locked users out of the Reddit site.
Obama posted the following, which included proof that he was who he said he was:
“Hi, I’m Barack Obama, President of the United States. Ask me anything. I’ll be taking your questions for half an hour starting at about 4:30 ET. Proof it’s me:Â
href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/240903767350968320"> Hey, everyone: I'll be taking your questions online today. Ask yours here: http://t.co/pcwZHo3O -bo — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 29, 2012
We’re running early and will get started soon.
UPDATE: Hey everybody – this is barack. Just finished a great rally in Charlottesville, and am looking forward to your questions. At the top, I do want to say that our thoughts and prayers are with folks who are dealing with Hurricane Isaac in the Gulf, and to let them know that we are going to be coordinating with state and local officials to make sure that we give families everything they need to recover.
Verification photo:Â
href="http://i.imgur.com/oz0a7.jpg">
View post on imgur.com
LAST UPDATE: I need to get going so I’m back in DC in time for dinner. But I want to thank everybody at reddit for participating – this is an example of how technology and the internet can empower the sorts of conversations that strengthen our democracy over the long run. AND REMEMBER TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER – if you need to know how to register, go to href="http://gottaregister.com/">http://gottaregister.com. By the way, if you want to know what I think about this whole reddit experience – NOT BAD!”
One of the questions asked was:
What was the most difficult decision that you had to make during this term?
And Barack’s answer?
The decision to surge our forces in afghanistan. Any time you send our brave men and women into battle, you know that not everyone will come home safely, and that necessarily weighs heavily on you. The decision did help us blunt the taliban’s momentum, and is allowing us to transition to afghan lead – so we will have recovered that surge at the end of this month, and will end the war at the end of 2014. But knowing of the heroes that have fallen is something you never forget.
You an view all the questions and answers href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obama_president_of_the_united_states/">here
