President Obama Launches His Own Facebook Page by Giving a Tour of His Backyard
President Obama wants to make some new friends. On Monday, the President launched his very own Facebook page, saying that he wanted it to be "a place where we can have real conversations about the most important issues facing our country.", The White House has focused on a concerted digital communications strategy, with the President joining Twitter earlier this year and gaining 1 million followers in about five hours. By 1 p.m. Monday, 17,000 people had "liked" Obama's Facebook page. In his first video post, Obama is seeing strolling across the White House lawn and discussing some of the wildlife around it, including a hawk and a fox. He then tells viewers he wants to reach an international agreement to combat climate change. "A lot of what I do is just think about how I want to make sure the beauty of this particular national park but also national parks all across the country will be there for Malia, Sasha, their kids and their grandkids for generations to come," Obama says. A White House spokesman told TIME that the page will be turned over to the next president. "The President Obama account, like other institutional social media accounts, will be passed over to the next administration," said Eric Schultz.