Obama hosts AMA on Reddit
The president answered anonymous questions online
By Prachi GuptaTopics: Reddit, Internet, Barack Obama, 2012 Elections, News, Politics News
President Barack Obama cemented his reputation as a technologically inclined leader this afternoon when he took to Reddit to answer questions from the raucous Internet community. The series, known as “AMA,” or “Ask Me Anything,” is a long-standing feature of the site that allows registered users to ask the host a question. Past AMA hosts have included celebrities, prominent Internet figures or anyone who might have an interesting perspective to offer.
Obama verified his AMA via twitter and logged onto Reddit a little before 4:30 PM ET:
Hey, everyone: I’ll be taking your questions online today. Ask yours here: OFA.BO/gBof44 -bo
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 29, 2012
He then answered questions about the Internet, law school, NASA, his life balance and his favorite basketball player. Here are a few of his answers:
FifthSurprise: What was the most difficult decision that you had to make during this term?
The decision to surge our forces in afghanistan. Any time you send our brave men and women into battle, you know that not everyone will come home safely, and that necessarily weighs heavily on you. The decision did help us blunt the taliban’s momentum, and is allowing us to transition to afghan lead – so we will have recovered that surge at the end of this month, and will end the war at the end of 2014. But knowing of the heroes that have fallen is something you never forget.
daveforamerica: What is the first thing you’ll do on November 7th, win or lose?
Win or lose, I’ll be thanking everybody who is working so hard – especially all the volunteers in field offices all across the country, and the amazing young people in our campaign offices.
karlfranks: Who’s your favourite Basketball player?
Jordan – I’m a Bulls guy.
silent1mezzo: What’s the recipe for the White House’s beer?
It will be out soon! I can tell from first hand experience, it is tasty.
Obama signed off, saying “By the way, if you want to know what I think about this whole reddit experience – NOT BAD!”
Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.
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