By Kayla Shipman, NCJW Legislative Intern

Last week, the White House held a “Twitter Town Hall”– the first of its kind – and I got to attend!  It was an amazing opportunity for me: I got to go to the White House for the first time, and I shook President Obama’s hand. (You can bet that everyone I know has heard me brag about that by now.) Not only that, I was able to hear the President of the United States answer questions about jobs, the federal budget, taxes, education, and the continuing impact of the housing collapse on families across the country. As a young person, it was wonderful to experience this kind of dialogue between Americans and our president, but it wasn’t just the questions that made this Town Hall exciting for me.

As a member of the millennial generation, I have observed computer technology really take off in my lifetime. I grew up with mail from AOL, I’ve observed the rise of Google and Facebook, and I’ve seen new media play a role in global development and democracy. Recently, we’ve all seen Twitter and Facebook effect protest movements from Thailand to Egypt, sidestepping the traditional media that is subject to government control.  In the US, we have grown accustomed to seeing our president hold Q&A’s on Facebook, Youtube, and now Twitter, effectively moving beyond traditional media as he disseminates information to the public. To me, this new step seems like a natural one, particularly when you consider that social media forums have taken off all over America, and often replace traditional media like newspapers and news stations as the place for up-to-date information.

As my summer in Washington, DC, progresses, I am especially interested to observe what impact this shift to social media will have on how previously unreachable leaders, like the president, respond to the nation. In the past, the public watched TV, read the paper, or listened to the radio to receive news and information. However, with the rise of Twitter and other forms of social media, individuals can ask questions of their leaders and expect quick responses — something the Twitter Town Hall at the White House demonstrated. The cyber community has created an expectation of accessibility for elected officials, and I applaud President Obama for meeting that challenge head on.

Likewise, traditional media seems to catching on to the move towards more interaction (take, for example, the fact that the Republican Party’s presidential debate included tweeted questions). Right now we are in the middle of a major shift that is changing not only how we communicate with each other, but also how we communicate with our elected officials. It’s great to see the executive branch recognize this and get a head start. Congratulations to President Obama for encouraging our nation to get involved by answering questions from people like you and me. With that in mind, happy Tweeting everyone, and don’t forget to follow @NCJW!