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

The former economics concentrator brings his talent for crunching numbers to netminding.

Pritzker Hall, designed for collaboration, should be complete in 2027.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Explore More From Current Issue

Racing driver gives a thumbs up from inside a car, wearing a helmet and safety gear.

Harvard graduate and NASCAR racer Patrick Staropoli on pedals, attention, and fearlessness.

Aerial view of modern high-rise buildings surrounded by greenery and city skyline.

In a sea of red brick, the Science Center and Peabody Terrace make their mark.

A profile illustration of a man surrounded by colorful, whimsical text in multiple languages.

For both American and international students, growing up is like learning a new language.