White House Joins Snapchat Ahead Of State Of The Union Address

@reuters
White House Joins Snapchat Ahead Of State Of The Union Address

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House said on Monday that it had joined Snapchat, marking the Obama administration’s latest move to reach a younger generation of Americans through social media.

The Obama administration, whose new Snapchat handle is @whitehouse, has made outreach through non-traditional media platforms a top focus ahead of the President’s last State of the Union address, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

The White House said in a blog post that the addition of Snapchat to its social media arsenal was a part of its strategy of “meeting people where they are” and its effort to provide Americans with a “multitude of ways to engage with their government.”

One of the White House’s first posts on the app was a video featuring a bowl of apples on a coffee table in the Oval Office.

Snapchat, a mobile app where photos and videos disappear after a single viewing, has more than 100 million active users, most under the age of 25.

The White House’s use of the platform may help drive more traffic to the app.

Already a social media juggernaut, the White House’s official accounts on other sites have drawn millions of followers, including more than 8.6 million on Twitter and about 1.6 million on Instagram.

Obama amassed 1 million followers in hours when he launched his @POTUS Twitter account in May and currently has nearly 5.8 million followers.

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How A Stuttering President Confronts A Right-Wing Bully

Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden’s stutter,” the headlines blare, and I am confronted (again) with (more) proof that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee hates people like me.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump at Trump Tower

Former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's February 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}