Two Dot Obama

Disclaimer one - I'm a big Obama fan and think his election is a massive inspiration. Disclaimer two - this blog is not, and never will be, about politics so disclaimer one doesn't really matter. But I can no longer resist the urge to make a statement about Obama being the first 2.0 president. Yes, he is; no doubt about it. But should we really be that overcome with the fact we've elected somebody who can read emails?

Obama used the web masterfully to link up the common man with his campaign rhetoric and he used it with aplomb to raise funds from working-class people, many of whom had never donated hard-earned wages to a politician. He also had a well-paid PR machine behind him, who definitely should know how to do these things or could rightly be accused of living under a rock.

Judging by how much the papers are championing it, everyone is floored by how 2.0 Obama is, because he gets email, Twitter, and the power of online communities. And gee wizz, he even knows how to use that thing called a 'Crackberry.' Concepts that your 12 year old neighbour mastered five years ago (ok, possibly not Twitter since it was only created in '07).

Yes Obama's 2.0, and way more so than the current administration; yes he's brilliant. But it's annoying to champion his use of tools that every average Joe his age has mastered. That's just the thing. It's not his use of Web 2.0 that's so exemplary, it's him. He is the genius. He was a genius at raising campaign funds long before his staff started a Twitter account. A politician less exciting than Obama can't just 'copy' his 2.0 techniques (as some articles have suggested) and make it work out as well.

It's great that we have a world leader who gets the internet, and I hope he can continue to use email and Twitter without the Secret Service raining on the Two Dot Obama parade. I know I couldn't live, or do my job, without email or many of my 2.0 tools. Let's add that to the huge list of expectations he'll have to meet from tomorrow onwards. But I have a lot of faith in him that he'll find a way around it.