The Hill News

Last week, I had the great privilege of attending President Obama's “Twitter Town Hall" on jobs and the economy. While comics and critics like Bill Maher poked fun at the White House for hosting this new media extravaganza, the truth is that the event made headlines because, for the first time in digital history, the audience had the chance to "#TalktoBarack." 

Unlike FDR's Fireside Chats, Twitter gave average citizens an opportunity to speak directly to the president. While Obama only responded to a handful of the more than 100,000 tweets, the 90-minute virtual "feedback loop" gave everyone from John Boehner to pot-smokers an opportunity to join the conversation. In fact, according to Mashable, the most frequently tweeted question dealt with marijuana as a source of revenue. Now, one can debate whether that question is relevant during a discussion about jobs, but there is no denying that this "Tweet-ocracy" gave everyone a chance to voice his or her opinion.

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