5 CHAPTER ONE Obama’s appearance at the Facebook town hall meeting demonstrated how important the social networking website had become MEETING THE PRESIDENT Sweat was dripping down Mark Zuckerberg’s face It was April 20 2011 In just minutes the 26-year-old cofounder of Facebook would host President Barack Obama They were holding an online version of a town hall meeting In these events people can ask politicians questions about important issues
The Facebook Campaign Chris Hughes Zuckerberg’s college roommate and a cofounder of Facebook worked for Obama He used social media to get the word out about Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign This made it easier for Obama to communicate with young people who often get news from the Internet rather than newspapers or TV 6 Zuckerberg waited at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park California He wore a jacket and tie He only dressed this way for special occasions Almost every other day of the year he wore jeans and plain dark T-shirts On cold days he’d add a dark hoodie Even as a billionaire he preferred his own simple style instead of fancy clothing Zuckerberg planned to give the president a Facebook hoodie as a gift When President Obama arrived he shook Zuckerberg’s hand Obama opened the meeting by thanking Zuckerberg for hosting it on Facebook Obama told the audience he was proud to be the guy that got Zuckerberg to wear a jacket and tie Obama
For more than a decade Facebook has changed the way millions of people communicate with their friends noticed how uncomfortable Zuckerberg was in his outfit He suggested they should both take off their jackets and relax A New Way of Connecting Obama selected Facebook for his town hall meeting because he recognized the website’s importance Zuckerberg changed the way the world communicates when he created Facebook The website became 7
