Obama joins Facebook, makes climate change appeal

President Obama on Monday created his own Facebook page, part of a broader push by his administration to directly reach out to the public on social media rather than traditional press channels. 

{mosads}While the White House — and his previous presidential campaigns — have had active Facebook pages, the administration this year has emphasized creating social media profiles for the president himself. In May, Obama joined Twitter, quickly accumulating millions of followers. 

The president used his first post on Facebook to press the public to help “in speaking out” to address climate change while giving a tour of the White House backyard.

“Now, we’ve made a lot of progress to cut carbon pollution here at home, and we’re leading the world to take action as well,” he said in the post. “But we’ve got to do more. In a few weeks, I’m heading to Paris to meet with world leaders about a global agreement to meet this challenge.”

Facebook by far has the most users of any social media site. Nearly three-quarters of online adults in the United States have an account. That is compared to about a quarter of adults who are on Twitter. 

The White House has a digital team of about 20 that manage the various social media accounts. The White House has Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts.