Obama seeks a chief tweeter

The White House is not just talking about Twitter. It's using the social network as a tool in the hardcore world of Washington politics. And it's looking for someone to be the president's chief tweeter.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Democratic National Committee has posted a job position for someone to maintain the president's accounts on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Mia Cambronero, who currently holds the job, said in an email message posted to a listserv that she's going to step down. "We're looking for someone who is available to start immediately."

No surprise that Twitter is at the top of the list for Obama's communications staff. Just Monday, deputy press secretary Bill Burton tweeted to more than 4,000 followers--including those from the White House press corps--that a Washington Post report that morning was wrong.

As the White House knows well, social media is often a better way of getting the word out than the traditional press.

While the White House has had a Twitter feed, people have only started using individual accounts officially in the last few weeks. Burton, the newspaper reports, started posting regularly in January.

"Twitter has helped us to quickly get information out, keep up with what is on the minds of our press corps, circulate stories we think they will find of interest and knock down stories that may be counterfactual," Burton told Politico. 

For more on Obama and tweeting:
- see this Wall Street Journal blog
- read this Politico article

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