By Nicole Horton
In a video produced by BuzzFeed and posted on Facebook, President Barack Obama looks to perfect the art of selfies. The video, entitled “Things Everyone Does But Doesn’t Talk About,” had been shared approximately 600,000 times and amassed more than 21 million views less than a day after it was posted. Obama poses in front of his bathroom mirror, switching it up with different facial expressions and aviator sunglasses.
Then, he attempts to maneuver the new selfie stick in order to capture different selfie angles in his office. Another particularly humorous moment is when the president’s cookie cannot fit into his glass of milk, so he says, “Thanks, Obama.”
Obama has effectively utilized social media in his presidential campaigns and throughout his administration to mobilize voters and put forth his agenda. In addition, he did not abandon mainstream media, frequently appearing on talk shows like “Ellen,” “The View” and “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.”
For quite a while, many Americans have been sarcastically remarking, “Thanks, Obama.” Is Obama looking to find another way to relate to the public outside from his political agenda by coming across relaxed and able to poke fun at media perceptions of himself? However, while the president is getting ready in front of the mirror, he says, “The deadline for signing up for health insurance is Feb. 15. In many cases you can get health insurance for less than $100 a month. Just go to healthcare.gov to figure out how to sign up.”
Some of the comments on this video were positive, giving Obama credit for being self-deprecating and promoting his agenda in a fun, cool way. There were also plenty attacking Obama, criticizing him for his healthcare policy, for taking time to do the video while there are other issues for the president of the U.S. to address and even for having a slightly dirty mirror in the White House (I mean, even college students would break out Windex if someone was shooting a video in their bathrooms).
“Fox & Friends” host Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that while “the world is exploding all over … [and] on the very day Kayla Mueller is confirmed to be dead at the hands of terrorism, how does our president respond? ‘YOLO.’”
The selfie stick, which gained popularity in Asia before spreading to the U.S. and Europe, has capitalized on social media practices.
“We have received a large amount of Customer Care e-mails and ‘In-store Pickup’ requests for this item in the past day,” Roger Quesada of Ricky’s NYC told The Washington Post by e-mail on Friday. “We expect this news to have a very positive effect on sales in the coming weeks.”
Obama has been criticized for his social media habits before, like when he posed for a selfie with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. After the photo, it appeared that neither Michelle Obama (based on her facial expression) nor the rest of the American public were impressed. Meanwhile, other politicians have failed at trying to be social media savvy, such as former New York Senator Anthony Weiner who unintentionally tweeted an explicit photo rather than privately messaging it.
I think that this video is an excellent formula for other politicians and political groups to follow because Obama quickly and effectively promoted his initiative using humor without taking away from the video’s entertainment value. The video also features BuzzFeed’s Andrew Ilnyckyk, an online-video favorite who helps appeal to the target audience. Obama’s team also makes him appear culturally relevant by having the president use the new selfie stick.
However, I think that Obama’s advisors should be more conscientious about the timing of fun appearances and videos such as this.
