Obama yesterday appeared on up-and-coming website Reddit for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session after tweeting his intentions to answer questions minutes earlier.
Reddit is a message board that hosts countless topic boards policed by interested parties. Users can cast a vote to send story links and comments up or down. The best content rises to the top of each topic board.
Although Obama’s appearance did divert attention from Hurrican Issac battering the Gulf Coast, he said his thoughts and prayers were with those affected.
He also managed to grab the spotlight from the Republican conference being held in Tampa, Florida – no doubt the motivation behind the appearance.
On Reddit, Obama also told an unemployed graduate not to be disheartened about the state of the economy, and revealed his hardest decision in charge of the USA was sending more US forces to Afghanistan.
In regards to a question about internet freedom, he wrote:
“We will fight hard to make sure that the internet remains the open forum for everybody — from those who are expressing an idea to those to want to start a business.
“And although there will be occasional disagreements on the details of various legislative proposals, I won’t stray from that principle – and it will be reflected in the platform.”
Obama also revealed his favourite sporting star was Michel Jordan – in response a question that was surely a waste of time (everyone already knew the answer).
That question meant others such as: “why didn’t you close down Guantanamo Bay as promised?” and “when will climate change get the attention it so desperately needs in your second term?” went unanswered.
Reddit received more than 200,000 hits at one stage and the site began to slow due to the high volume of traffic it was attracting.
