#Social at the #SOTUSocial–Making the White House Accessible

The one part of the White House trip I failed to mention: I was suffering from a BAD COLD!

With that in mind, I was not able to socialize as I usually do. I was tired, on lots of cold medicine and just fighting to feel better every minute I was in Washington, D.C.

I managed to meet some very gracious, neat, intelligent, all around awesome social media attendees. We all shared the same feelings.

1.  We could not believe we were at the White House.
2.  We all felt honored.
3.  How do we get more involved in engaging citizens to be more aware of what their government is doing.

 Here are some tweets of people preparing for the night:

 The White House’s WiFi connection was none too desirable for us social media junkies: 

Reactions about items in President Obama’s State of the Union address:

The perfect end to the night was a light snowfall as we were exiting out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building: 

The #SOTUSocial was social. People met beforehand at Old Ebbitt as well as after the tour a group met at a local Starbucks.

I am following some people I met on Instagram and Twitter. I even have had an email from one attendee. I hope to keep in contact with these attendees to share our commitment to digital citizenship.  The White House has brought social media leaders together that might not otherwise have met. Social media allows people to connect and allows the White House to create accessibility and transparency.

The White House did not censor our messages. I appreciate that. The rhetoric was not controlled because the White House believes that they can learn from every message sent to them. Unfavorable messages can show an establishment, even the White House, to clarify their rhetoric. The rhetorical situation is always in play and how one responds is the key. Rhetoric is always about clarifying messages and creating more effective ones.

I will be curious to see how social media is used in a new administration. President Obama’s team from his campaign to his presidency has created a high standard. Citizens expect the open dialogue we have now with Washington. Luckily, Washington is responding back… one tweet, one Instagram, one Facebook post at a time. Engaging citizens through social media will create more social awareness and create a higher social capital for citizens to be more involved in the political process. These venues are still in their infancy for their use, but the more the political world tests out these virtual communities, the more information will be demanded from their constituents.

My next post will show how the White House created the most transparent look at a President preparing his speech. The White House staff created a fun look through blog posts, Instagram pictures and twitter to share their experience on creating the most important speech of the year.

More about my visit to the White House:

Invited to the White House: Tweeting the #SOTUSocial Part I

Invited to the White House: Tweeting the #SOTUSocial Part II