As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. In this case, it takes about 20 White House aides to manage President Barack Obama’s social media profiles, including Twitter and Facebook.
The New York Times reported Monday on the team of White House employees that creates Obama’s seemingly spontaneous persona on Twitter, Instagram, and Vine.
“Our office is very much tasked and looking for ways to bring his voice directly to people,” said Kori Schulman, who has been part of the digital team 2009, in an interview with the newspaper. “It’s a balance of focusing on the president’s priorities and being flexible and opportunistic as conversations are happening online that relate to what the president cares about.”
The Times notes that the team attends communications meetings each morning to discuss trending topics Obama could weigh in from his social media profiles.
The article notes his tweet about Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested for making a clock that police officers suspected could be a bomb. “Cool clock, Ahmed,” Obama wrote.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
Obama also comments on major news events via social media, such as after the Supreme Court’s ruling to pass same-sex marriage across the U.S. in June.
Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins
— President Obama (@POTUS44) June 26, 2015
In other news from the White House, the President recently unveiled a plan from him to visit a U.S. city based on whichever made the most progress in signing up for Obamacare.