Obama's Facebook Playbook

If the Barack Obama campaign's web presence reminds you of Facebook, there's a reason...

If the Barack Obama campaign's web presence reminds you of Facebook, there's a reason.

The man behind my.barackobama.com is Chris Hughes ’06, one of Facebook's founders.

As a New York Times article on Hughes explains, he was a roommate of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who left Harvard to work on the site full time. Hughes worked for the company after graduation, but departed in February 2007 to become Obama's "online organizing guru" (his official title, according to the Times).

The campaign has won plaudits for its innovative use of the Internet, including using the Web to track and organize volunteers, build automated polling-place locator software to inform voters where they should cast their ballots, and launch fightthesmears.com, a site dedicated to debunking myths and rumors about Obama.

Read the rest of the Times article here.

Most popular

To Promote Healthy Habits in Patients, Start with the Doctors

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

Which Lifestyle Medicine Pillar Suits You?

Take this quiz on six healthy habits that Harvard doctors recommend

Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?

Historian Alexander Keyssar on why the unpopular institution has prevailed 

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman jogs on a path beside a boy riding a bicycle, surrounded by trees.

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

Collage of book covers featuring various titles on a vibrant orange background.

These newly released novels, histories, and memoirs grapple with identity in all its forms.

Delicate green cocoa pods and small white flowers on a tree branch, surrounded by soft greenery.

Harvard researchers investigate climate’s impact on cocoa crops, innovations in nasal vaccines, and links between pain and skull marrow.