President Barack Obama won the election, at least in some part, with his technological savvy-- and he hasn't forgotten those roots.
On Valentine's Day, two nights after the State of the Union address, if you're not prepping for a night out (either because you don't believe in V-Day or because you're single), you can watch Pres. Obama on Google Hangout speaking to experts in their fields about -- well, the state of the union.
Google is hosting this event, Obama's second ever Hangout, on Thursday at 4:50PM, eastern time. The White House was evidently so impressed with Vice President Joe Biden's session on gun control (after which he seemed to become the most popular politician on the internet) that it decided to continue the president's recent tradition of answering questions online after a speech. The Q&A will be augmented with a YouTube video complete with charts and graphs.
Google Hangouts are easier to curate than top-voted questions, says TechCrunch, or else users can expect to see the president inundated with questions about marijuana legalization. Again.
The White House has also planned a "White House Social" for its social media followers, to watch the State of the Union and speak with administration officials on Tuesday night.
Last August, the president held a surprise chat on Reddit as part of its "Ask me anything" (commonly shortened to AMA) series. He answered ten questions in half an hour, endearing himself even further to the internet generation.
The Fireside Hangouts follow Franklin D. Roosevelt's legacy of the fireside chats, which he started as a governor of New York in 1929. He first began making informal addresses when the Great Depression began, and the term was later coined by CBS's Harry C. Butcher. Roosevelt conducted a total of 30 chats as a sitting president, from 1933 through 1944. Presidents after Roosevelt have conducted weekly addresses to the public, first by radio and then over the TV airwaves.
You can leave questions for the Hangout on the White House's YouTube channel here, and on Feb. 14, watch the chat on its Google+ page here and on YouTube.
What are some questions you'd like to see the president respond to?
