The effectiveness of social networking has reared its head again in the United States Congress. Congressman Anthony Weiner has reacted to his mistake in unwittingly sending an allegedly indecent message – and image – via Twitter, forgetting to hit the ‘direct message’ button. Thanks to the speed at which social networks run, the image was gotten hold of by other users of the popular micro-blogging network, and subsequently re-tweeted around the world.

 

President Obama, who has called for the resignation of Weiner, is familiar with the impact of social media himself. Throughout his presidency, and even his initial electoral campaign, Obama has kept his supporters updated via his own Twitter account (@BarackObama has over eight million followers worldwide), his Facebook account, and YouTube – a speech by Vice-President Joe Biden concerning health reforms was an instant success on the video-sharing website.

 

Weiner, who initially denied that the indecent image was posted by him, has apologised via Twitter, but Obama is still insistent that “if it was me, I would resign.” Interviewed on US channel NBC about the incident, a clip including Obama’s comment has been seen circulating – appropriately enough – on YouTube.

 

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