Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama appeared live on the computer screens of Americans across the country Monday, answering questions they had posed.
In an interview distributed on YouTube, the popular Internet video site, Obama lobbied for his job creation and clean energy plans while disputing one questioner's premise that he broke a campaign promise to conduct business in the open.
"People know more about the inner workings of this White House, the meetings we have," than they did under previous administrations, Obama said in response to a question from a man named Warren. "We have followed through on a lot of what we said, so Warren's mistaken in how he characterized it."
At the same time, Obama acknowledged that some later negotiations on health care reform occurred out of the public eye. He said that would change as he works with Congress in "the last five yards before we get to the goal-line."
"No secrets, no surprises," Obama said of the final health care proposals.
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Washington (CNN) - For the past five days, 55,340 people asked 11,695 questions to President Barack Obama on YouTube. Voters then cast 643,507 votes to determine the top questions YouTube will ask Obama Monday at the White House in an unprecedented live interview streamed on YouTube.com/CitizenTube.
"Neither the President nor his staff will know which questions will [be] asked ahead of time," blogged Steve Grove, who heads News and Politics on YouTube. "But what's clear from looking at the submissions is that they represent a broad cross-section of topics and concerns."
The event, which will air at 1:45 p.m. ET, will be the first interview with the president since he delivered his State of the Union. YouTube opened up its platform Wednesday as Obama was delivering his nationally televised speech to Congress. Grove will ask some of the most popular questions that were voted upon by YouTube users.
"When people are asked to weigh in on what matters most to them in an open forum, the result is a fascinating and informative look at the pulse of the country," Grove wrote on the YouTube blog. "It's this kind of transparency and direct access to information that we believe represents the promise of platforms like YouTube to improve our politics."
Later: Obama answers questions from public in YouTube interview
Washington (CNN) – While the Constitution mandates the president deliver a State of the Union it does not mandate whether or not it should be delivered on the radio, television or YouTube.
The State of the Union was delivered first on the radio in 1923 by Calvin Coolidge and Harry Truman came into living rooms live via the television to deliver his address in 1947. And now Barack Obama will make State of the Union history by streaming it live on the new White House iPhone app and encouraging citizens to ask the president questions on YouTube.
YouTube and the White House announced Tuesday morning that it will open up a forum on YouTube.com/CitizenTube during Obama's address for people to submit questions to the president. Questions will also be voted on to determine what the public wants Obama to answer.
Then a week later, Obama will answer questions in a special online event.
Washington (CNN) – One year has passed since President Barack Obama took office promising a new era transparency in government using technology, including social networks. And while the White House's official YouTube page has received 21 million video views and close to 100,000 subscribers, Republicans in the House and Senate are dominating use of the site.
There are 430 members of Congress who have also started YouTube channels, but Republicans have been more active than Democrats.
Steve Grove, who heads up "News and Politics" at YouTube, wrote on a blog last week: "Though the Democrats captured the majority of the seats in Congress, 89 percent of Republicans have channels, compared to just 74 percent of Democrats. Eight of the top 10 most-viewed and most-subscribed YouTube channels in Congress are from the GOP."
The top 10 most-subscribed-to YouTube channels on Capitol Hill, in order from most to least: Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Florida; Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California; House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Virginia, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan; Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota; House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia; Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina; and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Michigan.
Rogers leads the list of the top 10 most-viewed YouTube channels in Congress. He is followed by Grayson; Pelosi; Forbes; Cantor; Boehner; Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia; Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Illinois; Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska; and Paul.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Justice Department became "Justice 2.0" Thursday, unveiling their new Web site and robust social media strategy on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace.
Since taking office, the Obama administration has been pushing for transparency in government and cabinet members have been revamping their Web and social media strategies accordingly.
"We'll see what opportunities arise," a Justice spokesperson told CNN on the strategy behind their accounts. "But the basic premise is it is a way to get our message to more people and that message can be received by people where they are online. They don't have to come to us, it can come to them."
The new Justice.gov incorporates a new blog and will have a regularly updated photo and video library (the old site had photos and videos, but were not updated on a regular basis).
The YouTube page currently has five videos explaining the role of the DOJ and the roles of the attorney general, associate AG and deputy AG. Moving forward, the site will feature press conferences, speeches and public service announcements. The Facebook and MySpace pages will act as a clearing house for all the social media the DOJ is pushing. @TheJusticeDept on Twitter will be an informative and educational hub pointing to breaking news, information, quotes form the attorney general, notes from high profile events, and links to new content.
Follow Eric Kuhn on Twitter @KuhnCNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) - When Rep. Joe Wilson yelled "You lie!" at President Obama, the South Carolina Republican's political team quickly launched an online strategy to capitalize on the incident.
Wilson's heated outburst came on the House floor as Obama addressed a joint session of Congress about health care.
Within 12 hours, Wilson media consultant Brian Donahue had sketched out a plan that included buying ads on Google, cutting videos on YouTube and using Twitter and Facebook to raise money and counter the congressman's critics.
"We knew that influencers and news outlets would want to find out more information about what happened and what Joe Wilson's response was, and they would be looking for this information online," Donahue told CNN. "The events were happening by the minute and by the hour. Online was where we needed to be to respond and provide new information from Congressman Wilson. Traditional print media couldn't keep up with the pace of this issue."
Follow Eric Kuhn on Twitter @KuhnCNN
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